Kingdom Hearts: A New Beginning
by Twilit eclipse
Summary: What would happen if Sora had a twin brother? When their home is destroyed, Sora and his twin set off across the first game to save their friends. Along the way, they will face challenges with enemies, and even within themselves. Let the journey begin! AU. SYOC closed.
1. Awakening

**Disclaimer! I don't own Kingdom Hearts or it's characters. If I did, certain things would be changed. *evil laugh* BTW, this is my first story, so any help would be nice.**

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I woke up on a strange platform. It seemed to be made of stained-glass. I remember falling through the ocean and doves coming out of the floor to reveal a picture. It looks like a lady in a yellow and blue dress, surrounded by pictures of woodland creatures. As I turn around, I notice it's a platform surrounded by a dark fog. Suddenly, I hear a strange voice, "_So much to do, so little time... Take your time. Do not be afraid. The door is still shut. Now, step forward. Can you do it_?"

"Well of course I can!" I say as I step forward, "Wait, who said that?" Suddenly, three pillars of stone rise from the ground. A weapon appears on each. The one one the left holds a shield, the stone in the center holds a sword, and the one on the right holds a staff.

The voice comes again, "_If you give it form, it will give you strength. Choose well_." I go to the sword, complying since there's nothing else to do here. "_The power of the warrior. Invincible courage. Is this the power you choose_?"

"Yes," I say. The sword then disappears from my hand.

"_Now, what will you give up_?" I have to think for a while about this. I end up going to the staff. "_the power of the mystic. A staff of great wonder and ruin. Is this the power you give up_?"

"Yes," I say again.

"_You chose the power of the warrior, you've given up the power of the mystic, is this the form you choose_?"

"Yeah," I repeat, "are we done... What!" as I talk the stone pillars sink into the ground and the floor shatters and I fall into the dark abyss below. Waiting for the end, I close my eyes... and float to the ground relieved. "At least I'm alive," I mutter.

This platform pictures another woman, but in a blue dress. Suddenly, the sword I chose appears in my hand in a flash of light. "_You have gained the power to fight_," the voice says, " _Use this power to protect yourself and others_."

As soon as the voice stopped talking, a small, shadowy monster comes up from the ground. It has yellow eyes and 2 antenna-like things on its head. It doesn't look dangerous at first, so I don't feel threatened. Suddenly, the monster leaps from the ground and hits me with its claws. "Ow!" I scream in pain, "That's it! You're going down!" In my anger, I hit the monster multiple times in quick succession with my sword. It didn't have a chance. When I killed it, the monster disappeared in a cloud of black smoke.

"_Look out!"_ the voice yells "_Behind you_!" In truth, I was surrounded. I made short work of the shadow beasts. Unfortunately, one got away. As I was busy thinking about what had happened, I failed to realize the platform was deteriorating into darkness. By the time I noticed, it was to late. I was already being absorbed by the darkness. "Well, this is the end," I think before my head goes under.

I open my eyes to see I'm on, yet another, circular area. This one pictures three silhouettes in different circles. I then notice a large door on the far side of the area. I walk over to it, only to find it is impossible to open. "How do you open it?" I wonder aloud, starting to get annoyed with this place.

For reason, a chest appears in a flash of light. I open it and find a potion inside. The outer part of the door also becomes solid. "Well that was helpful," I say.

As the door opens, bright lights come out of it and I have to answer some questions about myself that I don't want to repeat. I find myself at another platform with another lady on it. (This place is very repetitive, isn't it?) Suddenly, a swarm of the shadow things return and I destroy them. "Piece of cake!" I say triumphantly. After I destroy the monsters, a ring of light appears. As I walk into it, I feel refreshed and every wound I had gotten disappeared. Then, a set of stairs that led to who knows where appeared. I proceeded to walk up them.

I get to the top of the stairs and reach what I hope is the final platform. Finally, the voice speaks up again. "But be careful, the closer you get to the light, the greater your shadow becomes." I look behind me to see my shadow growing longer. It then actually comes out of the ground and gets taller. At the end of the transformation, my shadow has become a giant, black monster with strands of darkness coming from its head. There is also a huge hearts shaped hole in its center. I turn to run away, but there is nowhere to go. I have to fight. "_But don't be afraid,"_ the voice says, _'and don't forget_..." The voice is cut off.

"Don't forget what?" I say desperate. It's a futile effort though, because the voice is gone. I then go to fight the monster. The dark being starts by punching the ground. A sphere of darkness appears around its fist while on the ground and a hoard of shadows come out. I ignore them and attack only the giant. After a few seconds, the fist pulled back up and I fight the small monsters. After they die, I turn my attention to the giant. I grab its hand as it pounds the ground and climb up to one of its dark strands on it's head and hold on to them.I hang from the strands while I beat the head with my sword.

After awhile, I am shaken off and the monster gets down on its knees. The heart shaped hole in its middle glows before firing a missile at me. In a reaction of pure instinct, I hit the missile back. The projectile hits the monster and it recoils in pain but keeps firing. I send back every one, and when I hit the last missile back, the monster glows a brilliant white and falls over. Right on top of me.

As I sink into darkness once again, the voice returns saying, " _but don't be afraid, you hold the mightiest weapon of all. And don't forget, you will open the door._

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**Sorry if it's long. I just felt I needed to fit the whole Awakening in. I'll update when I get the time. Bye!**


	2. Collecting stuff

**Chapter 2 is up. That was fast, wasn't it. Well, now the disclaimer.**

**I do not own any of the KH characters or the basic plot. I wish I did though. :(**

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"I knew I'd find you guys snoozing down here!" comes a voice.

"Who's there?" I ask opening my eyes. I look to the side to see Kairi standing next to me.

"It's just me, Kaze," she says, "And Sora, Wake up!"

"Huh?" I hear Sora say behind me, sitting up, "Oh, it's just you Kairi."

"Honestly you two," Kairi sighs, "All you do is sleep all day. I know you're twins, but you're too alike." Sora and I are twins, but we have a very few differences between us. For one, I have black hair and Sora has brown.

Other than that, we're completely identical. To further distinguish ourselves, we wear different outfits. I usually wear a light green T-shirt under a blue and jacket with a black rim. Finally, I wear blue shorts. Sora usually wears a red jumpsuit and a black jacket with right rims. The only difference is is jacket is red and white. Sora and I also have similar gloves, but mine are green while his are blue.

"Hey! We don't sleep all day!" I yell defensively.

"Yeah," Sora adds, "We do other things, like..." He can't think of anything.

"Like helping with the raft?" Kairi suggests. "Oh wait, you haven't done anything to help yet."

"Neither have you Kairi," another voice says. I look behind us to see Riku carrying a huge log. "I guess I'm the only one working on the raft. You're just as lazy as Sora and Kaze, !" Riku throws the log at Sora and he falls over from the sudden weight. I laugh at him as Sora glowers at me.

"So you've noticed," Kairi laughs, "Okay, we'll finish it together! I'll race you!" While I was helping Sora with the log, Kairi and Riku got a head-start.

"Get back here you cheaters!" I yell after them, already running. I easily pass Kairi, but Riku and Sora are to fast for me. After we race, I talk to Kairi to ask what I need to get for the raft.

"I need you to get another log and a rope. Sora's already getting another log and a cloth."

"Got it Kairi!" I say as I run off to find the stuff. I find the log sitting on the beach near the water. "Amazing how Sora didn't find this," I mutter as I pick it up. I bring it back to Kairi so she can put it... somewhere. The rope was in one of our tree houses near Tidus.

By the time I get the rope back to Kairi, Sora and Riku are done already.

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**Sorry it's short. With the other stuff i was going to add, it would be too long, so I split it in two. Well the next chapter should be up in a little while. Until then, do whatever.**


	3. Fights and Revelations

**Wow, Three chapters added in one day. That will probably never happen again, so don't get your hopes up. Anyway, time to finish the first day on Destiny Islands.**

**Desclaimer: I don't own anything of Kingdom Hearts. Except any OC's I come up with. I own them.**

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"Done finding your items, Kaze?" Riku asks.

"Yep!" I answer.

"We have a few hours until we have to go back home, so let's go ask Selphie, Tidus, and Wakka if they want to fight," Sora suggests.

"Great idea Sora," Riku says, "I call Tidus!"

"I'll fight Wakka!" Sora yells.

"I guess I'm stuck with Selphie." I sigh. No offense to Selphie, but she's so easy to beat. All you have to do is deflect her jump rope thing and the recoil knocks her back for a few seconds. Then you can beat her up while she recovers. Just repeat that, and Selphie is down in seconds.

I grab my sword and go over to Selphie to ask if she wants to fight. "Hey Selphie," I say to her.

"Hey Kaze," she says back, " And I know what you're going to ask. So sure, I'll fight." She gets her jump rope and stands up.

"Wow Selphie, you're like a mind reader now." I joke.

"Well," she says, "Let's fight!" 30 seconds later, we're on the beach, ready to fight. "I hope you're ready!" Selphie says as she charges as me. I just roll my eyes as I prepare to block her attacks.

"This is going to be too easy," I mutter under my breath so she can't hear. The battle wasn't as easy as I initially thought it would be. First, I notice Selphie was faster than usual. I had trouble guarding against her attacks and I was forced to dodge a lot. When Selphie spun her jump rope, it actually hit me. "Looks like you've gotten much better," I say to Selphie, " But it's not enough!"

With that said, I charge at Selphie acting like I was going to swing down at her head, but instead I spun around her and grabbed her rope.

"Hey! No fair!" she says before a I hit her in the side with my sword many times, defeating her.

"I forgot you were this strong," Selphie groans, "Okay, you win, but I'll win next time!"

"I'd like to see you try!" I say jokingly to her.

"You'll see!," she says as she stomps off to the dock, probably to cry about her injuries a bit. I then go to see Wakka to find out if he's up to a fight.

"How's it going," I say trying to imitate his accent.

"Don't even try that, mon," he replies.

"Sure," I say, "hey, you want to fight?"

"Okay, but you're going down!"

The fight starts with Wakka throwing a Blitzball at me. As it's coming at me, I remember the dream I had. (The part where I hit the monster's projectiles back.) I hit Wakka's ball back at him and he becomes dizzy from the impact. ( Blitzballs must be really hard!)Surprised that it worked, I just stood there for a few seconds before realizing Wakka was defenseless for the moment.

"This is going to be fun alright!" I say as I beat him up. Wakka jumps away after getting over his injury and prepares another ball to throw. This time though, he charges it up with a blue energy. I prepare for the worst. I know this attack will get rid of about half my energy. I then remember that I can deflect his Blitzball. I just have to hope I can hit this one back in time. Wakka throws the ball with an extreme amount of force but I somehow hit it back at him. Wakka was defeated by his own Blitzball.

I go to help him up. "You okay?" I ask him.

"I see you learned some new moves," Wakka says, "that was a hard fight."

"You've gotten better."

"You know it!" As I walk away from Wakka, I see that Riku and Sora are fighting on the small islet with the Paopu tree. I walk over to them to watch, but by the time I get there, Riku has already beaten Sora. No surprise there. Riku once beat Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie all at once, with no help. I've never even tried to fight him. For some reason though, Sora tries all the time.

Later we get Kairi and go to our favorite place to sit and watch the sunset. It's a time for us to just relax and talk. (Well, technically, Riku leans against the tree, but Sora, Kairi, and I sit.) "So, Kairi's world is out there somewhere, right?" Sora says almost randomly.

"Could be," Riku says, "But well never find out by staying here."

"But how far could a raft take us?" I ask Riku. I'm starting to think we didn't think this through properly.

"Who knows. We'll think of something else if we have to." Somehow this seems like a great answer to Kairi, Sora, and I. It seems like we look up to Riku too much sometimes.

"Well, suppose we do get to another world," Kairi adds, "What would you do there?"

Riku seems surprised by Kairi's question. "I guess I haven't thought about that," he says, "I've just always wondered why we're here, on this island, if there are other worlds out there. I mean, why are we on this one?"

"I don't know," Sora and I say simultaneously.

"That's why we have to go and find out. Just sitting here won't change a thing, so let's go!"

"You've been thinking a lot lately, huh," Kairi asks. I silently agree with her.

"Well it's all thanks to you Kairi," Riku answers, "If you hadn't come here, I wouldn't be thinking about this stuff at all. Thanks."

"You're welcome." Kairi says. That marks the end of our conversation because it is getting late. As we leave, Riku tosses a small bundle of cloth with a Paopu fruit inside at Sora.

"You said you wanted one, didn't you?" Riku says to him.

"A Paopu fruit?"

If two people share one, their destinies will be intertwined forever. No matter how far apart they are," Riku explains. Sora's face turns red in embarrassment. Riku and I have to stifle a laugh at Sora's reaction. As we walk away. I call Sora over because he's still standing there.

"Sora!" I yell to him, "We have to go soon!"

"Uh, yeah! Right!" Sora says obviously still flustered. We head home in our boat, but the ride is silent. Sora is obviously still thinking.

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**Well that's chapter three. Sorry if you were hoping for me to fight Tidus. That's in the next chapter. I couldn't add another fight or else this would be way too long a chapter. I'll probably update by Sunday, maybe tomorrow.**


	4. Weirdo in a Hood

**Chapter four is now up! BTW, after i get to the actual adventure, this will probably go slower because i have to change some stuff from the actual story. Oh well.**

**Disclaimer:I do not own Kingdom Hearts, It's characters, or the basic plot of the story. I do own Kaze though.**

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The next day, Sora and I go back to the island to help finish the raft. We head to the other side of the island because that is where the raft currently is. There, we see Riku standing around like he's been there all day. "Hey Riku!" Sora calls out to him.

"Oh, hey Sora and Kaze," Riku says back, "I already finished gathering my provisions for the trip. In my free time, I also came up with a name for the raft. I think we should call it _Highwind." _

Sora seems angered by this before he says, "I wanted to call it _Excalibur_!"

"Like the sword?" I ask. I can't decide which name I like better, so I just stand there while Riku and Sora argue. After a few minutes I get tired of this. "Guys!" I yell, stopping their arguement, "I know how to solve this. Just race and whoever wins gets to choose the name of the raft."

"That seems fair," Sora says. Just then, Kairi walks up to us.

"A race?" she asks, "I'll be judge! Race from here, to the star tree, and back." With that, Riku and Sira are already getting ready to run. Riku says something to Sora that I can't hear and Sora looks suprised. "READY, SET, GO!" Kari yells. The race starts out with Sora in the lead, but by the time they get to the zipline tower, Riku is ahead. Sora climbs up the tower while Riku goes the longer way around. Sora reaches the tree first and is the first to get back. We were all suprised because we all thought Riku would win.

"Yes, I win!" Sora yells, "The raft is called _Excalibur_!" After Sora finishes gloating, we go to Kairi to ask what we need to find.

"We need one seagull egg, three mushrooms three fish, two coconuts, and fill this jug with water." Kairi lists.

'Wow, that's a lot of stuff!" I exclaim.

"Well, we'll be at sea for who knows how long, so we need a lot of stuff." Kairi explains.

"Good point." After we finished talking, I notice Sora had already left. I don't think he heard half the list, so I go to find him.

He's right where I expected. In our secret cave where we've been carving pictures on the walls since we were little. As I walk in, I notice Sora is carving something into the wall with a rock. He added to a picture Kairi, Sora and I had drawn when we were 5. It was a picture of all of us together. Sora is now adding a picture of him giving Kairi a paupu fruit. As Sora stands up to admire his work, we hear a very deep voice. I turn toward the sound to see a figure in a brown hood. "Who are you?," I ask.

"I came to see the door to this world," the figure says.

"This door?" Sora asks, "It doesn't even open!"

"This world has been connected."

"What?" Sora asks confused.

"Tied to the darkness, soon to be completely eclipsed."

"Whoever you are, stop freaking us out!" I say feeling kind of annoyed.

"You do not yet know what lies beyond the door." The person seems oblivious to our questions.

"You're from another world, aren't you?" Sora says. How he figured that out, I doubt I'll ever know.

"There is so much to learn, you understand so little."

"You'll see!" I say, "We're going to find out what's out there."

"A meaningless effort. One who knows nothing can understand nothing." With that, the hooded man disappears.

"Did you understand any of that?" I ask Sora.

"No," he answers, "that was one weird dude." I then remember what we were supposed to be doing.

"Sora, did you even hear what we were suppossed to find for Kairi?"

"Um... That would be a no." I sigh and tell him the list. We quickly find the food and report back to Kairi. I notice she's making something.

"Kairi, what is that?" I ask her.

"This?" she says, "I'm making a charm of thalassa shells. Sailors used to make them to ensure a safe journey. She puts the charm away. "I'm making one for each of us."

"Cool," Sora says, "We have a few hours until we have to leave so I think we should do what we did yesterday: Fight Selphie, Tidus, and Wakka."

"Fine, but I call Tidus. I haven't fought him in a while." I say quickly.

"Sure, I'll go find Riku to see if I can beat him today," Sora says as he walks away.

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**Chapter 4 is now done. Tidus will be fought in the next chapter, so I lied last time. Live with it!**


	5. Tidus and an epic fail

**Finally, we reach the fight against Tidus. And almost the end of the world. The adventure almost begins.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or the base plot of this story. I will find a way to own it someday...**

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As Sora goes to find Riku, I go to find Tidus. He's in the place he usually is: the wooden treehouse we all made together. "Hey Tidus," I say to him."

"Hey, Kaze!" He says, "Feeling lucky today? I don't think you could beat me if you tried!" This comment makes me angry.

"At least I don't use a bright red pole as a weapon!" I counter, "My sword actually looks like a weapon!" I swear, Tidus makes me so mad sometimes.

"The only way to solve this is a battle!" Tidus says obviously angry, "If I win, you have to admit that my weapon is not stupid."

"Fine, but You're not going to win!" A while later, we are prepared to fight on the beach.

"Get ready," Tidus says before he charges at me. Tidus fights a lot like me because of his stick that he uses a lot like a sword. The first attack he uses connects with my side. (That stick is harder than it looks.) In retaliation, I swing my sword down onto Tidus's right shoulder, temporalily stopping him from attacking for a few seconds. I take advantage of this break by frequently attacking him. When Tidus recovers, I quickly jump away before Tidus can attack me. When Tidus catches up to me, he attacks and I deflect his attack by swinging upwards at his stick. This also immoblizes him. This time when I unleash a devastating combo on him, Tidus is defeated.  
"Man," he groans, "I keep forgetting how strong you are."

As he walks away, I call out to him. "Tidus!, your pole isn't a stupid weapon! I was just kidding." This makes Tidus smile before he walks off to train, or whatever he does in his freetime. I then go to find Riku and Sora. In an event that does not suprise me, Riku is already beating Sora up. "Sora, when will you ever learn," I sigh. At that moment, Sora falls off the islet and into the ocean.

"That was an epic fail," Sora says as he climbs back up, "Now the score's 25 to 1."

"You've been keeping track, Sora?" I say suprising him, "And how did you lose to Riku 25 times and only win once?"

"It takes skill to lose 25 times in a row!" Sora says annoyed.

"Yeah, sure," Riku says, "Let's go with that." We all laugh.

Later, Kairi, Sora, and I sit on the docks to watch the sunset. "You know, Riku's changed," Kairi says.

"What do you mean," Sora asks.

"Well," Kairi starts.

"Are you okay?" I ask her.

"Let's just get on the raft and go!" Kairi says suddenly, "Just the three of us." This idea suprises Sora and I.

"But what about Riku?" Sora says, "We can't just leave without him!"

"I was just kidding."

"It seems like you're the one who's changed Kairi" I say.

"I guess. You know, Before, I was afraid to leave home, but now I'm ready. Because no matter where I go, and what I see, I can always come back, right.

"Sure you can!" Sora says.

"That's good," Kairi says, " Don't ever change you two."

"What are you talking about?" I say at the same time as Sora.

"I can't wait," Kairi says, changing the subject yet again, "Once we set sail, it will be great." After saying this, Kairi gets up to leave. As Sora and I are about to leave, I tell Sora to wait.

"I need to go do something," I tell him before he can ask. I go back to the Secret Cave and pick up a stone. I carve into the wall another addition to the picture: me giving Kairi a paopu fruit too.

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**Now we have a love triangle going on here. Sibling rivalry over a girl. Things will get interesting eventually, but probably not in romance terms. more like action.**

**Okay reveiw please.**


	6. Keyblade

**Chapter 6 is now up! Now Riku will destroy the island and Keyblades will be obtained. Hooray!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. Still working on how to own it. *Goes off to think***

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As I was laying in my room, I look outside to see a huge storm. "Oh no! " exclaim, "The raft!" I decide to go out to save it before it is blown away. Before I leave, I decide to grab my backpack to carry the food we had gathered. I then run into the hallway to see Sora had the same thought I did. Without a word needing to be said, we ran outside to get to the island.

When we run out, I hear my mom say, "Sora, Kaze, it's time for dinner! Boys?" We ignore this and head to the island to save our raft. Wen we arrive at the island, I notice Riku and Kairi's boats are also here. Sora!" I yell over the wind. "You go find Kairi and Riku while I check if the raft is still here."

"Got it!" Sora says. Suddenly,the strange creatures I saw in my dream appear from the ground. A look of suprise appears on Sora's face as well. "But how?" he mutters.  
I decide to ask why he recognizes the monsters too when we get out of this mess.

Luckily for us, we always carry our wooden swords with us. Unfortunately, we soon discover our toy swords won't do a thing to these monsters. Our attacks go straight through them as if they were actual shadows. "Want to run?" I ask Sora, knowing it's hopeless to fight.

"Let's go!" Sora says. We run to the only place the monsters don't seem to be. Our small islet with the paopu tree. Riku is also there.

"Riku!" I say out of breath, "Do you know where Kairi is? We have to get out of here!"

"The door has opened," Riku says.

"What?" Sora asks.

"The door has opened guys! We can go to other worlds!"

"What about Kairi?" I question.

"She's coming with us! Once we go through, we may never be able to come back, we might never see our parents again. There's no turning back, but this may be our only chance. We can't let fear stop us! I'm not afraid of the darkness!" Suddenly, black wisps of smoke start to curl around Riku, getting longer and thicker. Without warning, they stretch from Riku to Sora and I as well. Before I know it, I'm surrounded by darkness.

After a few seconds, a bright light shines in my right hand and I can see. I am in an area made, seemingly, of the colors blue and orange. There is also a strange symbol everywhere. I look down to see there is a is a large key-like sword about 4 feet long in my hand. It has a circular, green hilt and it's gold blade has four spikes at the top. "_Keyblade"_ a voice says in my head.

"This is a... Keyblade?"

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**Okay, lied again. I did make three chapters in one day yet again. **

**And if you're wondering, the area Kaze ended up in was Betwixt and Between. It's a dark corridor from the second game.**

**To anyone wondering about Kaze's keyblade, Of course I didn't make it Kingdom Key! I already have two others with that keyblade. I also have not come up with a name for Kaze's, so any suggestions would be great. **

**Well, until next chapter, BYE!**


	7. The Darkside Returns

**Yay! Chapter 7! This will probably be a long story though... Oh well!**

**Disclaimer: I still do not own the KH games.**

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"What is a keyblade?" Suddenly, a huge black shadow appears from the ground. It rises to reveal it is the exact same monster from my dreams. "You again!" I say freaked out, "Why are you here?" I receive no answer, but it has no mouth, so that is expected. "I guess I'm going to have to defeat you once and for all!"

The monster begins by rearing back its hand for a punch. This is exactly the same way it started the fight in my dream. The only difference is, this time its fist has a dark aura around it. "This doesn't look good," I groan. It pounds the ground right next to me and a dark shockwave comes from it. When it hits me, I feel a lot of pain. "I guess I'll have too dodge that next time." I say as I charge up its arm, swinging my keyblade at its arm the whole way up. When I get to its head, I climb up the strings hanging from its head to rech the top of its head. After I get up there, I hit in the face continuously. After a few seconds of beating it in the eye with my keyblade, the monster finally figures out it should get me off and vigorously shakes its head.

As I fall to the ground, I get a hold on the heart-shaped hole in its chest. From there, I jump down to the ground. The monster then gets down on it's knees and its empty chest glows dark. I'm immediately glad that I had jumped down from there when the dark projectiles shoot out. I hit it back and another one shoots out, but I don't manage to deflect it this time. I take a lot of damage from this attack and pull out a potion from my pocket. I throw it in the air and it heals me in a flash of green light.

While I was healing, the monster charged up another projectile and I prepare to hit it. Surprisingly, four missiles shoot out. I somehow manage to hit them back and while the monster is stunned, I charge in with a downward slash on its head. I can tell this defeats the monster because it falls backward.

As it falls back, a menacing black and red sphere appears about 50 feet in the air and the monster is sucked in. I try to find something to hold on to, but there is nothing there but me and the sphere. As I am sucked into the center of the sphere, I black out.

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**Really short chapter. Live with it! I couldn't add Traverse Town or else this would be a very long chapter.**


	8. A new world

**Chapter 8 is up now. The first two OC's now appear. I'll pretty much be accepting OC's until the last few chapters of the story, so send any you want in. Send two or three if you want.  
Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or it's characters.=(**

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"Hey! Wake up!" comes a voice.

"Huh," I mutter, "Who's there?"

"Well, at least we know he's alive," says another voice. I open my eyes to see a boy with light brown hair and hazel eyes. He's wearing a black shirt , black shorts, and red sneakers. There is another boy next to him. This guy's wearing a black sweatshirt, black pants, black shoes, everything black. Surprisingly, his hair is brown and his eyes are green.

"Who are you guys," I ask standing up.

"I'm Matt," the guy in the high tops says.

"And I'm Yen," the other guy kind of quietly.

"I'm Kaze," I tell them, "Where am I though?"

"In an alley," Matt says.

"I think he meant the world." Yen mutters.

"Wait, you mean we're in another world?" I ask surprised.

"Yes," Matt says, "This is Traverse Town. The problem is, your world was destroyed."

"What?" I say devastated, "What do you mean destroyed!"

"Destroyed, as in taken by the darkness," Yen whispers.

"As long as you're here," Matt says, "You might as well see the whole town so you can get around." I follow them out of the alley to see a town filled with bright neon signs and a lot of buildings.

"This is the First District," Yen comments, "It's the only place heartless don't appear in this town."

"What's a heartless?" I ask.

"A Heartless is a person who has lost their heart," Yen replies, "They are the embodiment of the darkness in people's hearts."

"How do know so much about heartless?"

"I have a lot of free time."

" As we walk through a large wooden door in the highest street of the district, the monsters from my island appear. The small ones.

"**Those**, are heartless" Matt says.

"Shadows, to be specific," Yen adds, "Now get back!"

Suddenly, there are two flashes of light and a keyblade appears in Yen and Matt's hands. Matt's keyblade has a square, yellow hilt and a gray shaft with four teeth. Yen's has a square, grey hilt. It's shaft is in the shape of a spine with a skeletal dragon head on top. I summon my keyblade too and begin to fight the heartless with Matt and Yen. Within seconds, the heartless are gone. When they disappear, we head into a nearby hotel. "I didn't think you guys would have keyblades too," I say to Matt and Yen.

"We didn't think you would have one either," Yen says, "Keyblades are really rare. My keyblade is called Fatal Crest."

"Mine is Kingdom Key," Matt says.

"I don't have a name for mine," I say, "I just got it."

"Don't worry," Matt says, "The base will come to you after a while."

"I just remembered something!" I blurt out, " Have you seen my friends? Their names are Sora, Riku, and Kairi. Sora is my twin brother and looks just like me, but with brown hair. Kairi has red hair and Riku has silver hair."

"I don't think I've seen anyone around here like that," Matt says, "Yen, have you?"

"No, I don't think so," Yen mentions after a few seconds.

"Well, maybe they're in town somewhere," I say trying to be optimistic like Sora. How Sora is almost never upset, I doubt I'll ever know.

We go back to the first district to check if Sora,Riku, or Kairi have appeared. After a futile search, we go into the accessory shop to rest. Some old guy with, somehow, blond hair greets us as we walk into the door. Well, not really greets us. "Hello valued custm... Hey! This is a store for adults! Not kids." I never did like it when people say I'm a kid.

"Hey! We're not kids!"

"Whatever. What do you need?"

"We're looking for some friends of mine: Riku, Sora and Kairi."

"I'll keep an eye out for them. By the way, my name is Cid.," He replies. We then leave the store to keep searching.

"What's the only place we haven't checked?" Matt asks.

"The third district," Yen says, "but that isn't a place we should go. There have been sightings of a huge red heartless near there."

"We have to go!" I say, "One of my friends might be there."

"If you insist," Yen says reluctantly, "The door to the third district is over there." We go to the door and open it to see a place with even more neon everywhere.

"This world really likes neon," I observe. Suddenly, the ground starts to shake and multiple pillars rise from the ground, blocking our escape. Heartless in what seems like armor appear and surround us.

"Soldiers?" Yen exclaims in surprise. We begin to fight the heartless and in the fight I take minor damage.

"That was incredibly easy," I say. Then, a huge shadow appears on the ground above us. I look up to see a red thing falling from the sky. "Oh no. Not good!"

* * *

**Thanks to PikachuMaster32 for sending in Matt as an OC and bladewielder05 for sending in Yen. I needed party members, so thanks again. Again, send in OC's if you want. BYE!**


	9. An Unfamiliar Enemy to most

**Chapter 9. Read on to find out what the red dot is. Its a heartless. SPOILERS! (You were going to find out anyway. Stop complaining!)**

**Disclaimer. I do not own Kingdom Hearts. Just OC's I come up with.**

* * *

The red dot grows larger as it falls toward us. As it falls, I realize it is going to fall on us. "Get out of the way!" I yell. It lands on the space we were in the second after we dive out of the way. I finally get a good look at it. It is almost completely red with some white. The white is in a diamond pattern across it's mid-section,but there is a strange emblem in the middle. The strangest thing is, no part of it is connected. The limbs and head are close to the middle part, but they float about a foot away from it. When it landed, the platforms that had risen to block our escape were destroyed, but the door out was damaged. There was still no escape. We had to fight it.

"That's a Red Armor heartless," Yen whispers, "That must be the heartless I warned you about!"

"Can you blame us for not listening to you listening to you later," Matt says, summoning Kingdom Key, "We have a heartless to fight here!" Suddenly, the claws of the Red Armor float away from the main body and spin around, hitting us. It really hurt. Yen and I quickly summon our Keyblades and proceed to fight.

We immediately go for different parts of the body. I attack the main body, Matt atacks the arms, and Yen goes after the feet. The Red Armor starts to spin it's arms again and we get out of the way. "Is that all you got!" Matt taunts. The Red Armor then starts to jump around the battlefield, creating shockwaves of energy.  
This, we do not manage to dodge and we take a lot of damage. Yen pulls out three potions and throws them into the air.

"Thanks!" Matt and I say as the potions heal us. When the Red Armor stops its wild jumping, it fall aspart into its main parts. I still attack the main body, but it has a new attack: It can now spin like a top. Before I can even land a hit, the Red Armor begins its new attack. I am whacked all over the place in the tornado the spinning heartless creates. While I'm being beat up, I see that Matt and Yen have already defeated the feet and claws and are coming to help.

"No!" I yell, "Stay back!" It's too late. Matt and Yen are pulled into the vortex and by the time it's over, we are beat up. "Got any more potions?" I ask Yen.

"No," he grunts in pain, "All out." Suddenly, we are healed.

"I thought you were out," Matt says confused.

"I am," Yen whispers.

"No, that was me," says a mysterious voice. I look up to see a 16 year-old boy in a long, black cloak over a white shirt and a pair of brown pants standing on a building. (Not an Organization cloak!) He has hair like Riku, but strangely, has one blue eye and one yellow eye. In his hand is a Keyblade with a square, red and black hilt and a firey blade. "The name's Raven," he says as he jumps down.

"Sorry to interupt this moment," Matt says, "but the Red Armor seems to be charging up an attack." True enough, the Red Armor is glowing with a dark aura.

It begins to spin and I am worried, but Raven says, "I've got this one. Stand back!" We comply and as the Red Armor gets incredibly close, Raven yells, "Reflega!" A dome of light appears around Raven and the Red Armor is deflected. In addition, the dark aura is absorbed into the shield and shot back at the Red Armor. The heartless is blasted back about ten meters and its form starts to flicker, showing a crystal heart at its center for a second. "Finish it off!" Raven says through a strained voice. (That spell must have drained him of a lot of energy.)

I plunge my Keyblade into the emblem on the Red Armor's center and it floats up into the air. It starts to rattle and shake until it finally stops and the crystal heart flies out and into the sky. "Now that was hard," Yen, Matt and I all say.

* * *

**I have now finished chapter nine. The red armor is from KH Final Mix. Don't try to fight it if you don't have the game. You could waste forever looking.**

**Oh, and thanks to Gin No Kaze for Raven. BYE!**


	10. Gummi Ship

**Chapter 10! For the record, this will be a no action chapter, just transitional. There will be fights next time. Live with it!**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own KH or it's characters. Just OC's I come up with.**

* * *

We leave the Third District through the door at the top of the stairs. When we got back to the First District, I ask Raven, "Have you seen anyone named Riku, Kairi or Sora?"

"Can't say that I have," Raven answers.

"I didn't think so," I say defeated. Sudenly, Cid comes out of his shop and waves us over. He has a large, colorful ship next to him

"Hey Cid," Matt says, "What is it?"

"I figured since we can't find your friends here, they might have ended up in another world. So, I'm giving you this to find them." Cid motions to to the colorful ship.

"What is this?" I ask.

"It's a gummi ship," Yen informs us, "It's basically a space ship used to travel between worlds." The gummi ship flies into the air.

"Where did it go?" I ask worried that we lost it.

"Don't worry," Cid says to us, "It will come back when you need it."

"Thanks Cid!" Matt says, "We're sure to find Kaze's friends with this." We walk to the door out of town and I notice Raven is standing a few feet back.

"Aren't you coming?" I ask him, "We could use your help."

"Sure," Raven says walking over, "You guys need all the help you can get!"

"Hey!" Matt, Yen, and I say feeling insulted.

"Well, let's get going!" Raven says. We walk through the door and into our gummi ship that was waiting outside.

When we take off, Yen asks, "Does anyone know how to drive this thing?"

"The controls look kind-of like a car's," Matt suggests.

"I found an instruction manual!" Raven suddenly exclaims, holding up a small book." Yen quickly reads the short booklet and pushes the thrusters forward.

"Seems like you understand how to use this," I say leaning my chair back.

"Get up you guys," Yen says, "get the weapons ready."

"Why?" Raven asks.

"Because we're about to fly into a cluster of heartless ships." I look out the window to see Yen is right. In the distance is a huge cluster of ship-shaped heartless.  
I immediately jump into one of the seats and activate the weapons system.

"You're going down heartless!" I yell as they get into range. I start to shoot the heatless as they come into view with Matt and Yen helping. The whole time, Yen navigates through colorful rings, blocks, and meteors. We son come to a new world.

"That looks like an interesting world," Raven says. He's right. The part of the world we can see is checkered in different shades of red. There is a castle and a house.

"We might as well check if Riku, Kairi and Sora are there," I say hopeful, "I say we land."

"We don't have to land the ship," Yen states, "There's a button to beam us down to the world right here."

"Cool!" Matt says, "Like Star Trek!" This comment is ignored and Yen presses the button. In a flash of light, we are no longer inside the ship, but falling through a large hole.

"We should have landed," Raven says resentfully.

* * *

**The actual journey has now started. Raven is now part of the group. I broke the the three party member limit. That is a pretty good day in my book.**


	11. Wonderland

**Sorry this chapter took so long. I've been really busy and my short attention span kept me from working for too long at a time. You win again Short atten... OOH! SHINY!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. I will one day.**

* * *

I freak out when I realize we're falling. Somehow, we're just casually drifting down like a feather. "This is kinda fun!" Matt says excited at the fact that he is pretty much flying. During our leisurely ride down, I notice that there is random furniture floating around, but not falling.

"Anyone know what that is all about?" I ask.

"I have no idea," Raven answers. Soon, we come to a rest on the ground. I look up to see a light miles up.

"We were falling faster than I thought," whispers Yen. Suddenly, a white rabbit in a waist-coat and holding a pocket watch races by. Where he came from, I can not tell.

"I'm late! I'm late!" the rabbit yells as he runs past.

"Wait!" a female voice comes, "I just want to talk!" A girl with blond hair in a blue and white dress is chasing the rabbit, but runs out of breath soon after. Matt has a strange look on his face. I swear, if it was possible, he'd have hearts for eyes right now.

Yen grabs his ear and pulls hard. "Snap out of it," Yen says as he pulls him away, "He's always like this around girls."

"Ow ow ow!" Matt yells as he is pulled away.

The girl recovered from seeing this strange sight and says, "Hi, I'm Alice, who are you guys?"

"Hi Alice," I say, "I'm Kaze, those are Matt, Yen, and Raven."

"Why were you chasing that white rabbit, Alice?" Raven asks.

"Oh, no real reason, I just want to know where it's going." Alice answers.

"Maybe we can help you find him," Matt says coming back over to us, rubbing his ear.

"Sure! I think he went this way." We walk down the hallway to find a wooden door. I open it to see another, smaller door behind it. I open that door to see another door that is smaller. Getting frustrated, I open that door to find another, smaller door. I randomly throw open the doors for about a minute until there are no more. This door is so small that we have to bend way over to fit.

We are in a regular looking kitchen that for some reason, has a bed in the corner. We look down to see a miniturized rabbit running through a small, golden door. "How did he get so small?" Yen wonders aloud.

"No, the problem is you're too big," says a mysterious voice.

"Who said that?" Yen asks.

"Down here!" the voice says again. We look down to see the door that the rabbit went through has a face on the knob.

"Well how do we get... um... not big?" Alice asks.

"Try that bottle on the table." The doorknob yawns and closes it's eyes. We go over to the table and an orange bottle suddenly appears on the table. It says "drink me"  
on the side. We all take a sip.

"Tastes pretty good," Raven says. Suddenly, a strange sensation comes over us and the room seems to get taller. I'm confused for a second but I soon realize we are shrinking.

When we are as short as we need to to fit through the door, the table looks 10 feet tall. We go over to the doorknob to try and open it, but it's locked.  
"Hey! open up!"

"Hey over here!" We look to the left and see a guy with spiky , black hair like mine and a tan. He is standing next to the bed near a hole in the wall. "Come through this door." he says, "That lazy doorknob will never open." We follow him through the hole and find ourselves in a garden.

"Who are they?" A girl says, walking out from behind a hedge. She has straight blue hair that goes to her knees and hazel eyes.

"This is... Um... What are your names?"

"You forgot to ask!" the girl says seemingly annoyed.

"Anyway," I begin, "I'm Kaze, he's Yen, that's Matt, and he's Raven," I say gesturing to them in turn.

"I'm Raito," the boy says, "And this is my younger sister Rime." Suddenly, I hear a loud sound from somewhere nearby.

"What was that!" Yen whispers sounding worried.

"It's coming from the Lotus Forest!" Rime yells, "Hurry, it's this way!"

"Alice!" Matt says, "Stay here. It sounds dangerous."

"Okay, just be careful!" Alice says as we run off.

We run through a hole in a hedge and we end up in a forest. I see a flash of something black high up in the trees.

"Up there!" Raven yells. Knowing that it was seen, the figure runs away. "After it!"

We follow it through another hole, (What's with all the holes?) and we're in a place that looks like a party is going on. The thing that I can now tell is a person runs into a building to the left. "Get back here!" Rime yells after him. We run through the door and we end up in an upside-down version of the room with the bottles.

* * *

**Chapter 11 end. Again, sorry it took longer than normal. **  
**Thanks to Little Sweety Pea for Raito and Rime. BTW, Rime is pronounced Ree-meh. That is all.**


	12. Another guy in a hood?

**I'm trying to be more frequent with updates again so it doesn't take a week. Now it's Summer Vacation so I can update more.**  
**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts.**

* * *

We see the man in black standing on an upside-down light. Now that I have a good look at him, I can see he's wearing a long black coat with a hood. I can't see his face though.

"Who are you?" Matt asks him.

"That is none of your concern," the man says in an incredibly deep voice, "I'm just here to make sure something is here."

"Then what was with the loud sound?" Raito says.

"I do not have to answer your question."

"Well we can't let you go and wreck more things!" Rime says angry.

"Very well," the man says sounding almost bored. He then pulls out two weapons that look like light sabers. "Prepare to be destroyed."

Matt, Yen, Raven, and I pull out our Keyblades. Rime pulls out her weapon as well. Rime has two black guns with a black and white checkered pattern on the handle. Raito creates a huge ball of yellow, gray flame in his hands. "No, you're the one that's going down," I say.

Before we can react, the man bursts toward us at an insanely fast speed. He hits Rime with his weapons and she goes flying into a wall. "You're going to pay for that!" Raito yells as he charges at the man. Raito throws multiple, small fireballs at the man and while he is stunned creates a huge fire in his hands. Raven also adds in more fire by yelling "Firaga!" Raito throws the now enormous fireball at the man and a lot of smoke is created. I think the man is finished, but he flies out of the smoke with the same speed I saw before and Raito is hit too many times to count in the time of a second. He is out cold.

This makes us all mad and we charge at the man with our keyblades out. I reach him first and try to hit his side, but my attack is deflected and I am slammed into the ground by his weapons.  
Raven, Matt, and Yen all try to hit him now, but in a few motions, they are all defeated. "How strong is this guy?" Yen grunts in pain. At this moment, a lot of bullets slam into the man, pushing him back. I look up to see Rime is still in the fight.

Unfortuneately, the man just uses his light sabers as a shield and deflects the bullets right back at her. Rime is defeated by her own attack. "Pathetic," the man sneers, "You barely damaged me at all. Perhaps with more practice you could at least try and win." With that the man holds out his hand and a dark portal materializes. With one last look at us, he disappears into it.

"Wow," Matt groans, "that was an epic fail."

"Raven is the first of us to get up and yells, "Curaga!" A large flower opens over each of our heads and in a flash of green light we are healed.

"How did you do that?" Yen asks confused.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you," Raven begins. He then tells us about spells and how to cast them. We learned the 7 basic spells and we go back to the place we started to find Alice.

When we get there, Alice is nowhere to be seen. "Where did she go?" Matt asks, sounding kind of sad.

"Oh, get over it," Rime says, "She wasn't even into you." Matt looks disappointed at this comment.

"She probably went home," Yen says, diverting attention back to the problem at hand.

"There's nothing left to do here, and my friends obviously aren't here, so lets go." I say.

Five minutes later, we are climbing into our gummi ship. "See you guys later," Raven says as we climb in.

"Bye!" Raito and Rime say as we fly away.

* * *

**Wonderland is over. Alice is gone because a certain idiot queen took ker for false accusations. We all know who, right? I'll update when I update. Bye!**


	13. Deep Jungle

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Kingdom Hearts.**

* * *

The next world we come to looks like a jungle. "Apparently this world is called Deep Jungle," Yen whispers, looking at a monitor.

"Maybe Kaze's friends are down there," Matt suggests.

"Sure, they could be in any world," Raven says, "Why not this one? Let's land."

"Okay, let's go." Yen pushes the button, but there is just a loud crakle.

'I think it's broken," Raven says nonchalantly,

"I think he knows that," I tell him.

"It'll just take a second," Yen whispers as he leafs through the instruction manual, "Wait 20 minutes if the teleport button breaks." Yen looks up, "Looks like we're stuck here for 20 minutes."

"Well, we might as well get comfortable," Matt says leaning his chair back.

After about 10 minutes, Matt says, "You know what! This is taking too long! It has to have been 20 minutes by now." Matt presses the button.

"Matt don't!" Raven yells. It is too late though. When Matt presses the button, instead of a white light, we are enveloped in a red light. I can't see a thing for a few seconds. When I open my eyes, I am in a ruined tree house. "What is this place?" I think out loud.

"A tree house," Raven says behind me.

"Thanks for stating the obvious, Raven," I tell him, "Wait, where are Matt and Yen?"

"I don't know, maybe they came down somewhere else."

"Let's go look for them then." Suddenly, I hear something growling behind me. I turn around and see a leopard behind me.

"Just back away slowly," Raven warns me. This doesn't work because the leopard charges directly at me. I summon my Keyblade and block its claws. Raven also summons his and slashes its side. The leopard growls in pain and tries to hit him back, but Raven jumps away just in time. Raven and I beat up the leopard very easily and it runs out of the tree house.

"Now let's go find Yen and Matt," Raven says. We leave the tree house and we find a way down to the ground. When we get to a thicket of trees, we see a man and a woman being chased by a bunch of monkeys run by.

"Should we help them?" I ask Raven.

"Definitely!" Raven says, already running. We fight our way through the monkeys, but we are overrun after a few seconds.

"This was a bad idea," I say as the monkeys' attacks get worse. Suddenly, a hand reaches out and pulls me into a high tree. Raven is also pulled up. Our savior is the man who was running from the monkeys. Now that I have a good look at him, I can see he's only wearing a brown loincloth. The woman is also in the tree. "Thanks," I tell the man. He doesn't say anything.

"I don't think he can understand anything we say," The woman says.

"Since you can understand us," I say, "I'm Kaze and he's Raven. What's your name?"

"I'm Jane, and I think his name is Tarzan." Tarzan is staring at us in wonder by then.

"Um, what is he doing?" Raven asks as Tarzan grabs Jane's hand.

"I have no idea," Jane says, "but can you take me back to my camp Tarzan?" Without a word, Tarzan grabs Jane and swings away on some vines.

"Now THAT, was weird," I say as Jane and Tarzan recede from view, with Jane screaming the whole way.

* * *

**IMPORTANT!: I will not be updating for a few days. I will be somewhere with no interenet connection or computer access in general. **


	14. Zip Slasher

Got back on Friday. I can't tell you from where though. Stalkers...

Disclaimer:I don't own KH.

* * *

We quickly follow Tarzan's lead and grab a vine to swing away. It was actually pretty easy. We follow the sound of Jane's cries for help and wind up in a camp. "That was pretty fun," Raven says as we land back on the ground."

"Thank you for saving me Tarzan," I hear Jane say a few feet away. Tarzan mutters some gibberish and runs off.

"Did anyone understand what he just said?" I ask. Jane and Raven just shake their heads.

"Anyway," Raven says, "Have you seen two strangers in this jungle? They're our friends and we got separated coming here."

"I think I saw two guys running through the jungle arguing. They were saying something about pressing the button too early and boredom."

"That's Yen and Matt alright," I say.

"Definitely!" Raven says, "Let's go!"

"Thanks for the help!" I yell as we run away to find Matt and Yen.

We run through jungle and come to a clearing. Matt and Yen are arguing near a rock. With a blue and silver heartless with swords for arms! "Look out!" I yell and just in time, Matt and Yen jump out of the way and summon their Keyblades.

"Is that a Zip Slasher?" Yen mutters in a barely audible voice.

"Sounds tough, but we can beat it!" Raven says as we run up to help fight.

During this time, the Zip Slasher was, seemingly, just standing there, but it was really charging up an attack. It dashes right at us with an unnatural speed and hits us all with its lunging attacks.

"Next time, let's block that attack," Matt grunts in obvious pain. We all agree with that idea.

For some reason, it doesn't attack immediately after that last one. I realize that it has to recharge itself after an attack like that. "Guys, it can't move! Attack it!" I yell out. Everyone attacks it at once and we get in about 2 combos each. Unfortunately, it recovers faster than anticipated and lunges at us again without charging up. After this, I have very little health and I have to pull out a high potion to survive.

Because it did not charge up its last attack, the zip slasher wastes no time in attacking once more. It charges up this time and I block the attack. Everyone notices that the Zip Slasher is stunned and we get in a few combos like last time. This time, we managed to dodge its counter. This time, its attack is like a ground-pound that creates a huge shockwave. This also stuns the Zip Slasher and we move in expecting to completely finish it off. We can't finish it off though and it gets us with a spinning attack that depletes our health to the bare minimum.

As we are on our knees with no potions left, I hear a loud cry and I see Tarzan swinging on a vine right into the Zip Slasher. He beats it up with his spear and defeats it once and for all. "Thanks for the help, Tarzan," I say grateful after he heals us.

"Tarzan help," he says.

"So he can speak English," Raven says, "Or at least a little."

"You know this guy?" Matt asks.

"Sort-of," I begin. I then explain how we met Tarzan. I suddenly remember that we're searching for my friends and ask, "Tarzan, have you seen my friends?"

"Friends?"

"Yes, friends."

Tarzan seems to be in deep thought until he finally says, "Tarzan find friends." With that, he swung away.

"Thanks for saving us from that heartless!" Yen says as Tarzan swings away. He turns to Matt, "WHY DID YOU PRESS THE BUTTON!" (Wow, normal voice level. O.o)

* * *

Yeah, Yen speaks in a normal voice when angry. Never actually yells though. I don't even know why Matt pressed the button early. It was a random thought in my mind. Just like the others.

Anyone else notice almost every chapter is shorter than the last? O.o


	15. Olympus Coliseum

**I'm going to try and type longer chapters from now on. They've been getting really short lately.**

**Kaze: That's not gonna happen.**

**Me: SHUT UP!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts. Neither does Kaze.**

* * *

"It's too bad Tarzan didn't find your friends, Kaze," Yen whispers as we fly toward our next destination.

"Sure it's discouraging," I respond, "but I think he said he would keep looking,"

"It was weird how we couldn't understand him," Matt comments, "It was like he was speaking another language. Like some kind of animal."

"Maybe he was raised by animals," Raven jokes.

"Like that could happen!" I say laughing, "Where are we going now, Yen?"

"A world called Olympus Coliseum," He answers.

"A coliseum?" Matt says, "Those hold tournaments all the time! We should enter!"

"We might as well," Raven says, "Or Matt will annoy us about it forever."

"Hey!"

We land outside of a large building that I figure is the actual coliseum. There are two huge, golden statues of people in fighting positions right outside of the door. "This is a huge building," I say looking around.

"It must be the Coliseum if it's the biggest building around here," Yen says. I spot a banner that shows the winners of tournaments. Most of them say "Hercules" but one says Sora.

"Guys! Over here!" I yell excited, "My brother's been here!"

"How can you tell?" Matt asks.

"His name is up on the leader board with some people named Donald and Goofy."

"I wonder who they are?" Raven wonders aloud, "Maybe someone inside can tell us."

Suddenly a weird goat-like thing comes outside and says, "Sora! You're already... Wait, who are you guys?"

"I'm Kaze, Sora's brother," I answer, "and these are my friends Raven, Yen and Matt."

"I'm Phil, Sora's trainer for the games."

"The games are the tournaments , right?" Matt asks, "Can we enter?"

"You're going to have to train some first. Then we'll see about that," Phil says with an almost evil smirk.

* * *

**Sora**

* * *

_"Where are you guys?"_ I think to myself as we hover over a new world.

"We are not landing here!" Donald yells annoyed, "There's no way the king would be here!" This comment breaks me out of my train of thought.

"But we're not just searching for your King!" I yell back, "We're looking for my friends too! Give me the controls!"

"Never!"

"Um, guys," Goofy says worried, "You might want to stop before we cra... Too late!" While we fought, the controls went wild and we were on course to a crash landing.

_"Oh no."_ I think

* * *

**Kaze**

* * *

Hours later, we were tired, bruised and battered from Phil's training. "Are we done yet?" I pant.

"Yes," Phil answers.

"So we can enter the games?" Matt asks, perking up.

"You four? Enter the games!" Phil says laughing, "Like I'd let you!"

"You said we could!" Raven says getting angry.

"You need a pass, and you're not getting one."

"Come on guys, let's leave," I say annoyed. When we walk outside, a guy with blond hair and a long black cloak hands us each a games pass.

"Don't mention it," the man says before we can say thanks. He then walks away without another word.

"Who was that?" I wonder aloud.

"Who cares!" Matt says excitedly, "We can enter the games now! Let's go." He then runs inside and we just shrug and follow.

When we get in, Matt is already trying to get Phil to let us in. "Since you have a pass... Whatever, you're in." Phil says reluctantly.

"Come on guys!" Matt says excitedly, "The games are about to start!"

* * *

**SORA**

* * *

"Where did the others go? I got separated from my friends. Have you seen them?" I ask.

"Huh?" the strange man asks back.

"Friends," I repeat slowly.

"Friends!" The guy says seemingly understanding.

"Right! My friends. The loud one is Dona..."

"Huh,"

"Never mind, I'm looking for Kairi, Riku, and Kaze." When I mentioned Kaze, the man seemed to recognize Kaze's name.

"Friends here." He seems to want me to follow.

_"Seems like I'll finally find them."_ I think.

* * *

**Kaze**

* * *

After fighting 5 rounds of fighting many, but relatively easily defeated heartless, we were pretty tired. "Okay guys," Phil tells us, "This is the last round. You're against someone named... Huh, there's no name here, just a picture." Phil shows a picture of a guy in a familiar black cloak.

"What's he doing here!" We say suprised.

* * *

**Yeah, why is he here? I know, but you have to find out later. And sorry it took so long to update. My siblings were using the computer all week and I got very little time to write. **

**I told you I'd write more, Kaze! Where's my 5 bucks?**


	16. What's with all the guys in hoods?

**Chapter 16 is a fight chapter. Against someone you should recognize instantly. Well not instantly, but you get the point.  
Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN KH AT ALL. WISH I DID.=(**

* * *

After our momentary freak-out, we were more or less back to normal. "We're going to get creamed!" Matt says worriedly.

"I say we quit now before we're beaten to a pulp once again," Yen suggests.

"You can't quit now!" Phil yells at us, "That is something you just don't do here!"

"But you haven't been beaten up by this guy like we have, Phil," Raven says to him, "Those light-saber things are really painful."

"Light-saber weapons?" Phil asks confused, "This guy uses a huge book."

"Well that's a relief," I say, "Maybe we can beat this guy!"

"AND NOW, THE MOMENT YOU'VE BEEN WAITING FOR! THE FINALS ARE NOW STARTING!" yells the slightly annoying voice outside.

"I guess it's time to go," I say.

"Let's do this!" Matt yells upbeat. We dash outside and get ready to fight. Our opponent walks out calmly and pulls down his hood.

"Ugh, that thing is really hot!" He says. He has steel-blue hair that hangs over half his face and light-blue eyes.

Raven looks shocked. "Ienzo! You're alive?"

"You know him?" Yen asks.

"Ienzo? Oh, I no longer go by that name, old friend. My name is Zexion."

"Ienzo…" Raven seems a little too shocked to fight so we pull him over to the sidelines.

"Whoever you are, your going down," I tell Zexion.

"We'll see about that," Zexion says with a smirk. He summons his huge book and immediately casts a strange spell. In a flash of light, there are Zexion clones surrounding us.

"How did he do that?" Yen says surprised. Suddenly, the clones begin to circle us quickly and occasionally jump out of the ring and swing its book at one of us.

"Pay attention to which one of them jumps out!" I say after realizing something, "Only one of them is real!" After a few seconds, we find out which is the real Zexion and attack him. The copies instantly disappear with a solid hit on the original and while he is stunned, we land a lot of combos.

When Zexion recovers, he casts another spell and a green light comes out of his book. We all look toward it and Zexion speeds around us, hitting us all with his book. I can't move and realize we are all trapped in a smaller version of Zexion's book. There is a flash of light and I can see we're in a dark, cloudy space. Zexion is nowhere to be seen.

Suddenly, a bunch of small versions of Zexion's book surround us, with one normal sized one right above us. I can see a faint outline of Zexion behind the large book. "Attack the large book, it's actually Zexion!" I tell Matt and Yen.

"That won't be too easy," yen whispers, "Looks like the small books are about to cast a spell!" The books attack us with a lot of spells before we can even reach Zexion. Luckily they stop the attacks long enough for us to force Zexion out of the book. Once we knocked him out, we just hit him a lot and in another flash of light, we are back in the arena with Zexion kneeling on the ground.

We get a lot of combos, but when Zexion gets up, he yells, "You are finished!" and calls a bunch of dark meteors from the sky. We are all hit and can't attack until he is done. By that time, we are all on our last legs and kneeling on the ground. "Good effort," Zexion says walking up to us, "but you kids are finished."

When it seemed that all hope was lost, Raven yells, "Curaga!" We are all instantly healed and get up, but our help is no longer needed. Raven was already rapidly attacking Zexion and within seconds he was finished.

"Now tell me who you really are!" Raven says, obviously angry.

"Wouldn't you like to know," Zexion says as he disappears into a dark portal.

The crowed begins to cheer loudly and we celebrate our victory.

* * *

Chapter 17 will be up eventually, so just wait. (What is with this typing?)


	17. A strange portal

**Roxas198: Here's Chapter 17! Sorry for the long update. Also, this is a transition chapter so do not expect any action right now. I will reveal the name of Kaze's Keyblade though.**

**Kaze: So you're finally going to tell them? That took forever.**

**Roxas198: Well I didn't have the name at first...**

**Kaze: Fail... Anyway- Roxas198 does not in any way shape or form own anything from KH. Just the OC's and worlds of his creation he might bring in.**

* * *

As we fly back to our next destination, I look at our prize for winning the games. "So what is this thing?" I ask Raven.

"It's a keychain," he answers, "something used to alter your keyblade. You know, make it stronger in some cases."

"How does it work?"

"Just attach it to the bottom of your keyblade where the current keychain is." I do just that and my keyblade changes drastically. It now has a brown hilt and a bright yellow blade. It ends in 3 rounded spikes and glows with a yellow aura. I suddenly know the names of this and my other Keyblade: _Light's Power_ and _Godly Strength_. I can easily tell that _Godly strength_ contains a little more attack power than _Light's Power_.

"Oh yeah, when you change Keyblades, You sometimes figure out your original Keyblade name," Raven adds.

A few hours later, we land in Traverse Town. "What are we doing back here, Yen?" Matt asks.

"It's the only place we could go." Yen answers, I figured we could at least check if Kaze's friends came here." I look around and see Tidus standing next to a lamp post. I run over to him.

"Tidus! You're alive!" I exclaim, "What took you so long to get here?"

He looks confused. "What took me so long?" He asks, "What are you talking about? It felt like I got here seconds after that dark cloud came."

"Have you seen our other friends?"

No, but I have been wondering where they were." Tidus seems lost in thought, so I just walk away.

"Was that one of your friends?" Yen asks me when I walk back to them.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that."

"Maybe Cid has seen them by now," Matt suggests.

"Good idea, let's go!" We run over to Cid's shop and I immediately ask if he had seen my friends yet.

Cid thinks for a moment and then says, "Actually I think I have seen one of your friends. Sora, right?"

"Really? Sora was here too?" Raven asks, "Your brother is all over the place, Kaze."

"Yeah, he left here a while ago with his new companions, Donald and Goofy."

"How come we haven't heard any news about Riku and Kairi yet? Matt wonders.

"I don't know where your friends are for sure, but a portal to an unknown world appeared near Traverse Town," Cid suggests, "Maybe they ended up there."

"I guess it's worth a shot," Matt says.

"Which way is the portal?" Yen asks.

"Just go toward Wonderland and you should see it."

"Thanks Cid!" I say as we run out toward our gummi ship.

"Guys, just be careful. The portal might clo..." We never heard the end of his sentence because the heavy door to his shop closes.

A few minutes later we were almost at the portal. "_I wonder what world is on the other side,_" I think to myself as we go through the portal in a bright flash of light.

* * *

**Sora**

* * *

"This has to be the strangest world yet," I say to Donald and Goofy as we fall at a strangely slow rate.

"You're right about that," Donald answers, looking at the random furniture floating around us.

"Let's just relax and enjoy this fall," Goofy says laying down. We soon reach the ground, and while Donald and I land on our feet, Goofy falls on back."

"Wow Goofy," I say laughing, "Guess you didn't see the floor coming!" As we laugh, a rabbit in a waist-coat runs by.

"I'm late! I'm late!" he says, "I'm here, I should be there! I'm late!"

"Wanna go see what he's late for?" I ask Donald and Goofy already running.

* * *

**Kaze**

* * *

When I can finally see again, I can see a world with a clock tower with a sunset behind it and what looks like a tram running through it. "What's this world called?" Matt asks Yen.

"It's called Twilight Town."

"Well I guess that makes sense," Raven says. Suddenly, I hear a loud crashing sound behind us and we all look out the back window. With another bang, the portal flickers a lot.

"Guys," Yen whispers worried, "I think the portal's closing."

"So that's what Cid was telling us when we left," I add. With one final crash, the portal closes in on itself.

"That can't be good," Matt says.

"Thanks for saying what we already knew, Matt," Raven says sarcastically, "Let's just land in Twilight Town. We'll figure out what to do then."

"Well, that seems a good a plan as any," Yen mumbles as he steers us toward Twilight Town.

* * *

**Kaze: So it's called Light's Power? I've heard better.**

**Roxas198: I've heard worse.**

**Kaze: Touche.**

**Roxas198: Forget him. Well bye until next time. Read and review.**


	18. Twilight Town

**Kaze: Now we're in Twilight Town? Why?**

**Roxas198: It'll make sense later.**

**Kaze: but I want to know now!**

**Roxas198: Are you trying to get banned from this room?**

**Kaze: No...**

**Roxas198: Then do the disclaimer.**

**Kaze: Fine. DISCLAIMER: Roxas198 does not own any part of the KH universe. Just OCs he comes up with.**

* * *

When we land, I look around and see that we're in a train station. "Guess that explains where the tram whe saw came from," I observe.

"So where should we look for Kaze's friends first?" Matt wonders.

"I think we should split up," Yen suggests,"Twilight Town seems pretty big and we'll be able to cover a larger area."

"Sounds like a good idea to me," Raven comments.

A few minutes later I'm trying to find my way out of the woods. "I just had to go through the hole in the wall, didn't I?" I say talking to myself.

"Well if you hadn't you wouldn't have found me," comes a familiar voice. Suddenly, Riku steps out from the trees.

"RIku!" I exclaim, "I've been looking everywhere for you! Where have you been?"

Riku seems hesitant to answer at first, then says,I'd rather not talk about that."

"It doesn't matter. So have you found Kairi and Sora yet? My new friends and I have been looking everywhere for them."

A cloud of rage passes over Riku's face and he mumbles, "Just like Sora!'

"So you have seen Sora! Where is he?"

"He's somewhere else and you should be too. There are heartless around."

"Oh I don't have to worry about the heartless," I say, _Godly Strength_ appearing in my hands, "I've got a Keyblade to fight them with."

Riku seems to grow even angrier at seeing the _Godly Strength_. "A Keyblade?" He says extremely mad. I am really confused. "Yeah, but..." Suddenly a trio of kids about my age come into the forest. I turn to see who it is and when I turn back to Riku, he's gone.

"Who were you talking to?" One of the guys asks. He's wearing army shorts and an army jacket over a black shirt. He has blond hair and is a little taller than the other two.

"Um, no one," I lie.

"I'm pretty sure I heard you talking to someone," The girl comments. She has brown hair and is wearing an orange shirt with flowers on it and yellow shorts. "Whoever it was, they sonded pretty mad."

"I'd rather not talk about it, okay?"

"Sure," the last kid says. He has brown hair that kinda sticks out because of his bandana. He is wearing a red jersey with the words dog street and a dog on it over a white shirt. He's wearing jeans as well. "Who are you anyway?" I've never seen you in Twilight Town before."

"I'm Kaze. And who are you guys?"

"Name's Hayner."

"Pence."

"And my name's Olette,"

"So what were you guys dong in these woods anyway?"

We were trying to see if the rumors about the Mansion somewhere near here being haunted were true," Hayner responds.

"Thet say a guy with bandages covering his face appears sometimes," Pence explains.

"Sounds interesting," I say, thinking Riku might have gone toward the mansion, "Can I come?"

"Sure," Olette answers, "With four of us, we can search faster!" We then head off toward the old mansion.

* * *

**Riku**

* * *

"Don't you see, Riku?" the witch concluded, "they both have replaced you with other friends. I would never do that." She starte to put her hand on my shoulder, but I push it away quickly.

"You may have been right," I say, "but I still don't trust you!"

"A wise choice, Riku," she says as a dark corridor opens and we walk through.

* * *

**Kaze**

* * *

"That stinks," Hayner complains when we reach the mansion, "The gate's locked! We can't get in!"

"I guess we have to go back," Pence says dejectedly. Suddenly I have an idea. As they turn back, I summon _Godly Strength_ and point it at the lock. A thin, blue beam shoots out of it and into the lock. As I expected, the lock opens and falls to the ground with a loud crash. I quickly dismiss Godly Strength as Hayner, Pence, and Olette turn around.

"How'd you open the lock?" Olette asks me, confused.

"There was a key in the grass," I answer.

"That's good enough for me!" Hayner says, already heading inside.

"Hayner!" The rest of us all yell, "Wait up!

* * *

**Kaze: I still don't get it.**

**Roxas198: I told you it was later!**

**Kaze: Come on! Just tell me!**

**Roxas198: NO!**


	19. Struggle Part One: Seifer VS Raven

**This is a fight chapter at last! The next few will be fights as well. Enjoy!**

**Kaze: How come I don't get to say anything?\**

**Roxas198: You can introduce the new OCs.**

**Kaze: Finally! something other than the disclaimer! We have two new OC's that will be joining us today. Freccia and Nix. Sent in by Hitomi No Azure. **

**Roxas198: Actually, that's still your job.**

**Kaze: O_e That jerk Roxas198 does not own the Kingdom Hearts universe. No matter how much he wants to.**

**Roxas198: Jerk! You don't get any of my Skittles now.**

**Kaze: NOOOO!**

* * *

**RAVEN**

* * *

"Did you guys find anyone?" I ask Matt and Yen while we talk at the train station.

"No," They both reply solemnly.

"Kaze is going to be so disappointed," Yen whispers.

"Yeah. I'm starting to wonder of we'll ever find them." Matt comments.

"Where is Kaze anyway?" I wonder, "He should have been here by now."

"He's stubborn. Kaze is probably looking a lot harder than us." Yen says.

"We might as well do something fun while we wait," I suggest.

We all think for a while then Matt says, "I saw a poster for something called a Struggle tournament earlier. I have no idea what it is, but it sounded interesting."

"If we have no other ideas, then let's go! Where was it, Matt?" I ask him

"In some place called the sandlot. It should be starting in about 5 minutes."

"Then let's get going!"

2 minutes later we arrive at the sandlot. The center of the area raised so I guess it's the area the matches take place. When we go to see the person in charge of signing up, I ask him, "So what is Struggle anyway? We're not from around here."

"In the simplest way, Struggle is a game in which you try to get more orbs than your opponent by hitting them off of each-other with bats," the man replies, "Would you like to enter?"

"Sure," Yen murmurs, "Why not?"

"Great! Now just grab a bat from those boxes over there and put on these velcro suits and we will get started soon!" He hands us each a black suit with orbs on them and directs us to the bats.

"This is one weird outfit..." Matt observes.

A while later, the tournament begins. "Welcome everyone to the struggle tournament! Our contestants today are Seifer, Freccia, Nix, Raven, Yen, and Matt!" the man from before says to the crowd. "The first match is Raven V.S. Seifer! Now let's Struggle!" I look over at Seifer once I step up to the arena. He looks more muscular than any of the other contestants, but I'm sure I can beat him.

"You should just give up now, loser!" Seifer says with a smug look, "We both know I'll win!"

"Then I guess you'll get a pleasant surprise."

The bell sounding the start of the match goes off and Seifer immediately charges at me with a fierce look of determination in his eyes. When he gets near, I calmly step to the side and smack a few orbs of of him as he speeds by. Before he has time to react, I quickly stick the dropped orbs onto my suit.

"**What a stunning move for Raven**!" the announcer exclaims, "**Already he is in the lead**!"

Undeterred, Seifer spins around and charges at me like before, looking angry. Expecting him to do the same thing as last time, I jump to one side of him, but Seifer changes course to intercept me. Before I can dodge, Seifer knocks several orbs off of my suit and puts them on his.

"**Raven has lost most of his orbs! Can he take back the lead**?"

I try to attack him back, but he dodges my swings. Unfortunately for Seifer, I don't let up and I eventually get a hit on his bat hand, resulting in Seifer dropping it. I quickly kick his bat to the other side of the arena and take most of the orbs off of Seifer's suit before he can get it back. While he go's to get his bat, I grab the orbs and place them on my suit.

"**With 30 seconds left, who will win this fight?**"

In a final attempt to win, Seifer jumps extremly high into the air and yells, "Kneel Loser!" Seifer suddenly barrels down onto me like a torpedo. He slams into me as I try to hit him and we both lose many orbs. Just as the fight ends.

"**What an exciting battle! I can not wait to see who won!**"

A man comes up to the stage to count the number of orbs still left on us. After checking he shouts, "The winner is... Raven! By two orbs!" The crowd goes wild.

* * *

**Kaze: Come on! Just one skittle?**

**Roxas198: No!**

**Kaze: You've left me no other choice. *Summons Keyblade***

**Roxas198: Oh yeah! *Summons Keyblade***

**This Story is having some technical difficulties. Please stand by.**


	20. Matt VS Freccia and Yen VS Nix

**Sorry for taking so long. I have no idea why but I just didn't feel like it. Maybe it's because school is getting close. O-O****  
**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Kingdom Hearts, I wish I did.**

* * *

**Matt**

* * *

"**The next match is Matt V.S. Freccia! I hope it will be just as exciting as the last battle**!"

"_This should be a piece of cake_!" I think to myself, "_I've fought extremely powerful heartless. I can handle another human_!" I walk up to the stage, confident that I will be able to easily beat Freccia, but she looks the same.

"I guess you think you can beat me easily Matt," Freccia states, "But I'm a lot stronger than I look!"

"I guess we'll find out then." The bell sounding the start of the match rings and I get into a defensive position. Freecia darts at me with surprising speed and I barely block her swing. The impact does shake some orbs off of my suit, though, and Freccia quickly picks them up.

"**With extreme speed, Freccia brings herself into the lead! How will Matt retaliate?"**

"Just because you're fast doesn't mean you'll win!" I yell angry as I charge at Freccia. I feint a swing to her torso and as she tries to block, I swing at her legs, knocking her over. I take advantage of my oppertunity and swipe some orbs from her. When she gets up, I sprint away before she can take the orbs back.

"You're better than I thought," Freccia comments, "But not good enough!" Before I can even blink, Freccia is suddenly behind me and she hits the side of my head, knocking me over. In the course of a few seconds, she steals most of my orbs.

"**Freccia is way in the lead now! I doubt Matt can catch up with 10 seconds left!"**

_"She's way better than I thought! I've got to do something now or I'll lose!"_

Before I can act, Freccia speeds at me, many times faster than before. In a few short seconds, I am almost completely out of orbs.

"**The winner is Freccia by a** **landslide! I can not believe her speed!"**

* * *

**Yen**

* * *

"Wow," I whisper to Raven, "Matt didn't have a chance."

"How is she so fast, though?" he wonders. Matt walks back over to us, sullen.

"I can't believe I lost!" he says disheartened, "I was looking forward to fighting one of you two in the second round."

"I haven't won yet," I correct Matt, "I'm against Nix for my fight. He looks pretty tough."

"Yeah," Raven answers, "He should be just as hard, if not harder to beat than Freccia."

"I can beat him!" I say confidently.

"Good luck," Raven tells me as I walk up to stage.

When I walk up to the stage Nix is waiting for me, looking pretty laid back for a guy about to fight. "This should be fun," he says.

"**And now for the final match of the first round! Yen V.S. Nix!**"

I start the fight off by charging at Nix and trying to knock the bat out of his hand. Nix quickly attacks me to counter and smacks some orbs off of my arms. I try to retrieve them, but Nix whacks a few more orbs off before I can. I jump back before he can take any more.

_"Man, he's better than he looks. I guess I was right about him being harder. I've gotta step it up!" _ I wait until Nix comes at me and when he does, I copy what Raven did to Seifer and slide to the side, letting Nix run past. When he does, I slam my bat into Nix's back, knocking him into the ground. I begin to take Nix's orbs and run out of the way before Nix can get me back.

**"Showing almost the exact same moves as Raven, Yell pulls into the lead! Can Nix take back the lead in the minute left?"**

Looking annoyed, Nix quickly jumps to his feet and takes a few swings at me. I manage to dodge the first few, but Nix manages to catch my side. I'm thrown off balance and Nix gets, a few more hits before I can counter. I block one swing and when he recoils, I knock Nix to the ground with a swing to the knees. I steal a few orbs just as Nix gets up.

**"It's seems the score is tied! Who will prevail in the final 10 seconds?"**

Having the same thought, we both charge at each other. At the last second, I have an idea. I duck under Nix's swing and go behind him. I swing into Nix's back like before, which jars a few orbs off. I don't bother to pick them up, realizing I could just lower his count. I knock many orbs off of Nix and by the time the bell sounding the end of the match goes off, he is almost out of orbs.

**"The winner is Yen!" Now the people in the second round are Raven, Freccia, and Yen. One of them will just have to sit out round 2."**

* * *

**Kaze**

* * *

"This place is really dusty!" I comment.

"Well why wouldn't it be?" Hayner says, "Why would a ghost clean?"

"He has a point," Pence agrees.

"The ghost appears in the window of the left side of the house, right? " Olette says, changing the subject, "We should head there."

Hayner runs up to the top of the stairs and yells down, "Hey, guys! I found the door!" We come up the stairs amd walk into the door on the left. The room behind the door. Is completely white, with a table with a flower vase on top. There is nothing else inside.

"Guess he's not here," Hayner mumbles sadly.

"It is a big mansion," Olette suggests, "Maybe the ghost is somewhere else."

"You're right!" Hayner answers, instantly perking up, "I'll look in the back yard, Olette, you and Pence search downstairs and Kaze, you look over in the other room up here. We'll find that ghost for sure!"

* * *

**Roxas198: Even the thought of school depresses me. Summer is too short compared to the time we're in school. I'll try to update before it starts. Bye!**

**Kaze: I got back in!**

**Roxas198: Get out! You're on probation!**


	21. Namine

**Here's the** **next chapter. School start tomorrow** **so I can't update as often. Sorry.**

* * *

I walk into the room on the other side of the house and see its just a library with a wooden table in the middle of the room. "_I didn't think there'd be a library in this place,_" I think to myself. I sit down at the table and notice there's a strange symbol on the table. I soon realize that it's the same symbol that appears on most heartless. Next to it is a piece of paper with the same symbol on it, along with another symbol under it. The symbol is remnant of a heart with spikes around it. There is also a crayon beside it.

I feel strangely compelled to copy the second symbol under the first one, and when I do, the floor and the table begin to become transparent. I run to the area near the door and when I look again, most of the floor is replaced by a staircase leading into a high tech room. "_Didn't see that coming_,"

I walk down the stairs, but as soon as I get there, the floor reappears above me, sealing me in. Luckily, a light immediately comes on, letting me see. I look around and see there is a door.

I walk in and realize it's a computer room. There is only One computer and it's still being built, though. Passing this room, I come into a large, empty one. Before I can leave, I hear a sound behind me. I turn around to see a semitransparent girl walking out of a dark has medium length blond hair, blue eyes, and is wearing a white dress. She reminds me of Kairi for some reason.

"Who are you?" I ask, ready to summon _Godly Strength_.

"My name is Namine. I came to warn you about the Organization. They seem to bea targeting you and your friends for some reason."

"The Organization?"

"Yes, the people in the black cloaks that you have fought lately. I don't know why, but they seem to be attacking you for some plan they have."

"Thanks for the warning, but why are you transparent like this?"

"It's hard to explain, but I'm from the future. I just had to warn you to try and stay clear of them. They are too powerful for you to face as of now."

"Thanks again, Namine, but..." Suddenly another portal appears in the room and a guy in a black cloak comes out.

"This is an Organization member?" I ask Namine.

"Yes, but you can't face him alone! Go find your friends!" Namine holds out her hand, and yet another dark portal appears. "Go through here! You will be lead to your friends, but you have to keep running while you're there!"

"Oh no you don't, little girl!" the man in the cloak says in a British accent, "Kaze here isn't going anywhere!"

"Run!" The man holds out his hand and Namine fades away.

I make a dash for the portal and I make inside, just befor the man can grab me.

I look around the place I ended up in and groan. "Not this place again."

* * *

**Just so you know, it's Betwix and Between**.


	22. A game of chance

**I have been taking a really long time to update lately, so sorry. I blame school.**

* * *

And now, the semifinal match between Raven and Freccia! Who will win and face off against Yen in the finals? There's only one way to find out! Let's- huh?" In the center of the stage, darkness seems to be forming into a circular construct. Immediately after forming, Kaze dashes out of it. The thing disappears soon after.

"Kaze!" I exclaim, "Where did you come from?"

"Nevermind that!" he answers, "No time to explain, but there's a guy coming after us! We're going to have to fight him!"

"Raven," Freccia says, "is this a friend of yours?" Suddenly, another portal begins to form.

"He's here!" Kaze then addresses the crowd, "Everyone! Get out of here!" Noticing the urgency of his voice, the crowd runs away from the sandlot quickly. By the time the portal finishes forming, everyone but Freccia and Nix is gone.

"Why are you guys still here!" I ask them as someone begins to walk out of the portal.

"We can take care of ourselves!" Freccia says. Surprising all of us, Freecia summons a Keyblade and Nix grabs a sword from his bag off stage. Finally, the person steps out from the dark vortex.

"Well, Kaze," he says, "I see you found some friends." The man pulls the hood off, revealing his face. He has short, blond hair and a goatee. "It will do you no good, though! You are coming with me, Kaze!"

* * *

Kaze

* * *

"Whoever you are, I'm not going with you to your Organization!" I tell him.

"I guess I'll have to bring you back unconscious, then!" The masadism moms a deck of cards into his hand.

"He's going to fight with cards?" I ask myself, "He must have something up his sleeve."

"What are you going to do with those?" Matt laughs, "Give us paper cuts?"

"You shall find out soon enough, young Keyblade wielders."

The cards shoot out of the man's hands and circle my friends. The quickly spin around until the cards disappear, friends and all.

"What did you do with them!" I yell, angered.

"I'll bring them back," he says, " If you can defeat me!"

"Then prepare to lose!" I charge at Luxord, but he suddenly starts moving at a speed impossible to process after mumbling a few words. Before I can do anything, swings his cards around me as they grow larger and shrink to fit in his hand. Within a few seconds, I'm already on the ground.

"To be honest, I thought you'd be harder to destroy," he says, walking toward me, "That was too simple!"

"How did... You do that?" I gasp.

"I might as well tell you, seeing as you're already beaten. You see, it's just a simple 'stop' spell. I stop you and to you, I'm moving extremely fast." An idea was beginning to form in my head.

* * *

Raven

* * *

The cards had surrounded us, and now we were trapped in completely dark place where we could only see eachother. I took off the Velcro suit to myself better and the others followed suit. I could now see what Freccia and Nix normally wore. Freccia was wearing a steel- blue sleeveless tunic with a jacket over it. Her pants are grey and her sneakers are the same color as her shirt. She is also wearing grey fingerless gloves.

Nix is wearing a white jacket over a dark blue shirt and white pants. His shoes are also white.

"What is this place?" Matt wondered aloud, the sound echoing everywhere.

"I don't know, but we need to get out of here and help Kaze," I answer, "That guy seems too strong for him to face alone! Any ideas?"

"I've got one," Freccia says, " If those cards brought us here, maybe if we find and destroy them, we could get back."

"That makes sense!" Yen whispers, "Anyone see it?"

"Over there!" Nix shouts, pointing to my left. Sure enough, an ace of spades was standing off in the distance. We ran over to it and started attacking it.

Nix starts hacking at it with his sword while the rest of us cast spells. "Fire!" Yen, Matt, and I cast.

"Wind!" Freccia yells.

Soon enough, with our combined attacks, the card exploded into a brilliant light that engulfed everything.

* * *

Kaze

* * *

The Organization member reached out to grab me, but a bright light came from his deck and five beams shot out, materializing into my friends. "How did you escape!" the guy yells.

"All I can say is that it was really easy," Matt taunts.

"You shall all perish!" The man freezes us all and goes around slashing us all with oversized cards. Luckily, since there were six of us, he could only hit us twice each.

The second we're free, Freccia holds out her hands and a strong gust of wind blows over the man, spreading his deck all over the ground. Almost immediately, the rest of us grabbed the cards so he couldn't attack.

"Just like Struggle!" Matt jokes. Then, we sent a barrage of our attacks the man's way.

Nix, Matt, and I attack him with our weapons while Raven, Yen, and Freccia cast some spells.

"Thundaga!" Raven shouts as a large, dark storm cloud appears over the Organization member.

"Blizzard!" Freccia calls.

"Fira!" Yen commands.

Jumping back from the fray, I look at the cards I had grabbed. There were 5 in total. One had a picture of a lightning bolt on it, another depicted a snowflake. The third showed a flattened heartless and the fourth showed just what I was looking for: a frozen clock. I didn't know what the last one was, but it showed a person glowing orange. I decided to save it for later.

I directed my attention on to the Organization member just as he managed to stop the onslaught with brute force. He ran right at me and I yelled, "Stop!" the card disappeared into my hand and I memorized the spell instantly. The man was now frozen in mid-sprint.

Realizing what had happened, everyone else recovered from their shock and began attacking the man with their respective weapons. I cast one spell after another until I knew every available one. I came to the last one and activated it.

Just then, the Organization member regained speed, but was momentarily disabled as all of our past attacks caught up with him. That gave me just enough time to charge up my attack.

My body began to glow neon orange and I could feel great power running through me. "You're finished!" I yell. Barely in control of my own actions, a started slashing the man on all sides. He didn't even have time to react. To finish him off, "Godly Strength" glowed an even brighter orange than I was, and fired off several large orbs of light.

The man fell to the ground, defeated. "Well," he says, "I tried."

"Why are you people attacking us?" I ask.

"I suppose you would like to know that." A dark corridor forms around him and he is soon gone.


	23. An offer you can't refuse

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom** **Hearts or anything it involves. Just my OC**.

* * *

"Now what will you do?" Freccia asks when the Organization member is gone.

"I don't know," I answer. "We can't get back to Traverse Town until the portal reopens." Abruptly, I hear a large explosion. We all look up to see a large purple dot in the sky.

"I think that's our way back," Yen murmurs.

"Well, I guess we'll see you later," Nix says.

"We'll definitely come back. As soon as we can!" I tell them.

We get close to the wormhole when I finally ask the question I was dreading asking. "Did you guys find anyone?" I decide to not mention Riku until I figure the meeting out myself.

"Sorry," Yen whispers, "We couldn't find anyone." I decide to keep quiet about finding Riku until I can figure it out myself.

"Well, that stinks," I say, "I guess we'll just have to keep looking.

* * *

**RAVEN**

* * *

"What should I do?" I think, "Is what that guy said true?"

* * *

Flashback

* * *

I walk through Market street until I came to a dead end in what looked like a trash lot. "I guess I'll just head back then." I turn around to leave when suddenly, I hear a strange sound behind me.

"Well, if it isn't Raven," Says a familiar voice. I turn around and standing there is the man from Wonderland.

"You!" I exclaim, my Keyblade already forming in my hand. "What do you want?" He removes his hood to reveal a man with long, silver hair and amber eyes.

"You can call me Xemnas. and I just want to extend an offer." he says.

"Like I'd want to listen to you!" I don't do anything though.

"I just wanted to know if you'd like your memories back."

"How did you know about that?" I ask, surprised.

"I know many things. Like how the lack of your memories leaves you with only half a heart." I hadn't even realized that.

"Your point is?"

"I can help you reclaim your memories," he states.

"What would I have to do?" I ask almost reluctantly. Almost.

"You just need to deliver Kaze to us when he is strong enough. Then, your heart will be restored."

"What will you do to him?"

"Nothing. We just need him to collect hearts." That sounded innocent enough.

"When?"

"When he is strong enough, we will contact you." he answers, "and by the way, call me Xemnas.

* * *

Flashback end.

* * *

"What did he mean by 'when he is strong enough'?" Suddenly, a sharp pain grips my heart, or what's left of it, and I clutch my chest. It quickly subsides though.

"Are you okay?" Matt asks.

"It's nothing." I answer.

* * *

**Yeah, really short chapter... Oh, and that will probably be the last POV change for a while**.


	24. Agrabah

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own any part of KH. only OC's I have created.**

* * *

When we reach the portal, there was a flash and we were back outside Traverse Town. "Man," Matt says, "I never thought I'd be so happy to see Traverse Town again!"

"Let's not go into random portals from now on," I suggest. Everyone agrees.

When we land in Traverse Town, Cid is waiting for us. "You made it back!" he exclaims, "I thought you were gone for good after the portal closed."

"You can't get rid of us that easily!" Matt jokes.

"Anyway, I know where Sora is! A world called Agrabah. I can install a map to it like I did to Sora's gummi ship."

A few short minutes later, we were ready to go. "Just so you know, I installed a warp drive, you can get to known worlds immediately!"

"Thanks, Cid!" I say as we lift off, on our way to Agrabah.

"Why is it so hot here!" Matt complains as we teleport down.

"You're right about that, I'm already sweating!" Raven says. Behind us is a sprawling expanse of a dessert and in front is a large, eroded wall.

"I'm going to guess that's a town," Yen says. We walk inside and are met with a bizarre sight. A girl in a light blue outfit is being chased by a man in a black and red robe.

"Hey! Stop messing with that girl!" I yell. He stops and turns to us, letting the girl escape.

"You fools made me lose the princess!" He says, "You will pay for that!" He pulls a golden staff shaped like a snake from his robes. It's ruby eyes creep me out. "You'd best prepare!" The eyes on the snake begin to glow red, but soon turn dark.

Soon, heartless appear all around us. They are mostly blue with linen turbans and wearing many rings. In their hands are long, curved swords. "Bandits!" Yen exclaims. We begin to fight them and I soon realize it's harder to fight when the enemy has a sword. They can block and attack just like I can.

Eventually, they are all destroyed, but another group appears around us. These heartless are very round and are wearing very tight outfits. "Fat bandits!" Yen comments, "You can't hit them from the front!"

Just as he says that, I swing Olympic Strength at a fat bandit's stomach, and a magic shield bounces it back. "Got it," I say through shuddering teeth, "Hit them in the back."

I get in a few swipes on one when it suddenly turned and leaned back. In one quick motion, a fireball shot from it's mouth and hit me in the arm. Didn't see that coming," I grunt as I pour a potion on my arm.

In a few minutes, the fat bandits were destroyed and no more came to take their place. "You will pay for this, you insolent street rats! No one makes a fool of Jafar!" With his threat stated, Jafar flees.

With Jafar gone, the girl from before steps out from behind a stall. "Thank you for saving me," she says, "I am princess Jasmine."

"You're a princess? Then why was Jafar trying to capture you?" Matt asks, puzzled.

"It's probably related to one of his plans to take the throne." She then turns to me. "And you, why do you look so much like Sora?"

"I'm Kaze, his brother."

"That's right! Sora hasn't come back yet! I hope he's alright."

"We'll find him," Yen whispers "Where is he?"

"He went to the Cave of Wonders to find my friend, Aladin." Without even asking where it was, I rushed out of the city to find The Cave of Wonders.

Out there was an ornate purple carpet. That was somehow standing up? "We're in the dessert for ten minutes and I'm already hallucinating," I grumble "That's just great." The carpet begins to make erratic motions and I realize it's pointing somewhere. "You want me to get on?" I ask. It makes a nodding motion and then Yen, Matt, and Raven come out.

"Really Kaze?" Yen complains, "You didn't even wait for Jasmine to tell us where the Cave of Wonders is!"

"It doesn't matter," I say, "This carpet will bring us there."

"He's already gotten heatstroke." Matt sighs. Silently the carpet floats into the air, showing us what it can do.

"Next thing you know, we'll be meeting a genie," Raven says as we climb on.

Somehow, the carpet grew larger to accommodate the four of us and we were soon off. We sped above the barren dessert so quickly, we had probably crossed 4 miles in the course of 5 minutes. Our destination was a dark place under a black cloud. Or at least it looked like that from the outside. Inside was a direct view of the stars above.

Below us was a battle going on. Countless heartless were attack some people. I didn't see any cave, but the carpet was already landing, so we decided to help. Keyblades in hand, we leaped into battle.

I was soon surrounded by a group of bandits. With their curved swords in both hands, the heartless attacked. "Lightning!" I yell, Godly Strength pointed at the sky. With a small boom of thunder, bolts of lighting surrounded me. The bandits were instantly destroyed, but my spell looked a little weaker than others I'd seen. "I'll figure it out later," I mumble, disappointed.

I kept fighting heartless until I found myself at a pit of quicksand. In there was a guy who was struggling to get out. I tried to help, but a fat bandit slammed its body against me, knocking me back before I could help. "Hang on," I yell, "I'll be over there in a minute.

I kill the heartless and run over to the quicksand pit. Without a stick nearby, my only option was to pull him out by hand. "Give my your hand!" I tell him. We lock hands and I manage to pull him up a little before being attacked by bandits.

The heartless were soon defeated and I got back to the job at hand. After a few seconds of intense pulling, I realized he wasn't coming up. I needed help.

"I need you to help get my other hand up." He says. I don't see the point, but I do as he says. I summon Godly Strength and stick it in the sand. I figure if it gets stuck, I could just make it come back to me.

"Can you feel my Keyblade?" I ask.

"Got it!"

"Now hold on with that hand!" I pull as hard as I can, and with an odd squelching sound, the arm comes out. In his hand is a golden object that looks a lot like a teapot, but shorter and longer.

"Genie! I wish the heartless and quicksand were gone!" A blue wisp of pink tinged smoke floats out of the thing and materializes as a blue man with a trail of blue smoke for feet.

"Wish number one, coming right up!" With a poof, all the heartless disappeared and the man was free. He looked about 18 and was wearing a purple vest and white, baggy pants.

"Thanks for saving me," he says, "I'm Aladdin. Who are you?"

"My name is Kaze," I say, ignoring the blue guy for now, "and Jasmine has been waiting for you to come back."

"Hey! What about me?" The blue man complains.

"Oh and this is Genie, he's granted three wishes for me."

"We'll technically, it's two now." Genie mutters as a large scoreboard appears over his head. A 2 is prominently displayed on it.

Suddenly, I hear a familiar voice. "Kaze!" Before I can turn, I'm tackled in a bear hug. I could already tell it was Sora.

* * *

Sorry for the long update, I was busy this week. I'll try harder for the next time.


	25. Kidnapped!

Man, I'm updating slowly. Writer's block. Sorry...

**DISCLAIMER: I still don't own this franchise. Too bad.**

* * *

"Sora!" I say, pushing him off, "You know I hate that!" I was still overjoyed to see him though.

"Sorry, but I'm just so glad you're okay!"

"Me too."

"Hey Sora, is this Kaze?" Says a semi-intelligible voice. An anthropomorphic duck and dog come walking up. The duck is wearing a light blue vest and is holding a large staff.

The dog is dressed in a pair of yellow pants and a green sweater under a black vest with many pockets. He is holding a large shield.

"Oh right! Kaze, these are my friends, Donald and Goofy. He points to the duck and dog respectively.

"And these are my friends," I say, "Matt, Yen, and Raven."

"Sorry to break up this reunion," Aladdin says, "but Jasmine's still in trouble!"

"Right! We have to go now!" Sora says.

"Maybe some of us should stay here, in case Jasmine comes to us," Yen suggests.

"Then we'll stay," I gesture to my group, "Sora, you, Donald, Goofy, and Aladdin go to Agrabah."

A while after they leave, I hear a familiar sound. I quickly turn toward it and see I was right. A corridor of Darkness was forming. "Oh man," Matt sighs, "again?" Surprisingly. an Organization member doesn't come out. Instead, a woman dressed in a long, black robe appears. She is very tall and has light green skin. In her hand is a long staff.

"Ah, so you're the four Jafar told me about," she says, "I must say, yo don't look very impressive."

"Speak for yourself." Raven says. "We could take you anytime!"

"I would advise you not to trifle with the likes of I, Maleficent. I am quite powerful."

"Oh yeah, prove it!"

"I do not have time for you young fools. I just wish to warn you not to mess with my heartless."

"You control the heartless?" I exclaim.

"Call them off!" Yen says in a normal voice. I could tell he was mad. "We've had enough of the heartless wrecking our worlds!"

"But darkness is what the worlds need." darkness begins to swirl under her feet, "You just haven't realized it yet." With that stated, she disappeared.

"What's with her?" Raven wonders, "We don't need or want darkness."

"That's what darkness does. It warps your mind unless you can control it." Yen whispers.

After a few minutes of waiting, Sora returned with his compainions. "Jafar has Jasmine!" Aladdin says frantic.

"Do you know where they went?" Raven questions, worried.

"Right here," Sora says, "The Cave of Wonders."

"Sorry to burst your bubble, but there's no cave-" He was cut off as the sand beneath our feet began to rumble and shake violently.

What's going on?" Matt yells above the noise. Sand begins to rapidly rise in the middle of the sand dune and it soon forms into a giant tiger head.

"There's the cave," Aladdin says, "Wait, something's wrong with the guardian!" He's right, the eyes of the tiger are practically overflowing with darkness. I could tell it was being controlled by Jafar.

"We can't get in!" Donald exclaims.

"We have to find away to get rid of that darkness." Goofy explains.

"I've got this!" Sora says. He charges up to the tiger and tries to reach the eyes, but it shakes violently and slams into Sora. It's hit sends Sora right back to us. "Okay, sand is harder than it looks." He groans.

"Maybe we can cleanse the shadow with light," Raven suggests. Not a bad idea.

Before we can act, the guardian shakes its head back and forth as bandit heartless come flying out. "You guys take care of the heartless. Sora and I will take the guardian!" I say. Sora and I rush through the immense crowd of bandits and arrive at the guardian's head. It shakes loose one last batch of heartless before slumping to the ground. Now was our chance.

We climb onto the head and begin attacking the eyes fiercely. After a few seconds of this, the tiger whipped it's head forcefully and we were sent hurtling to the ground. Even more heartless came out at this same time.

"Not again!" Donald complains. Suddenly, the eyes flash and a dark meteor comes out of each eye. One projectile hits me, and the other hits Yen. The force of the attack knocks each of us back a few feet.

"That really hurt," we both groan.

"Cure!" Donald yells. Instantly, a green aura surrounds us both and we are healed.

Another pair of dark shots are fired and both go toward Goofy. He immediately holds his shield out and the things go right back to the source. This brings the tiger head down again and Sora and I climb back atop it. After a few more seconds of attacking, both eyes were cleansed of darkness and returned to their original golden shine. As we hop down, the mouth opens to reveal a staircase to who knows where.

"Let's go," Aladdin says confidently.

Along the path, we dodged many traps and fought many heartless. We even fell down a few holes into an underground waterway. Aladdin knew the way though, and we eventually ended up in the lamp chamber.

Three platforms rose from the ground in different sides of the room. Behind the center one was a large keyhole with several smaller keyholes within it. In front of it was the reason we came.

"Ah, so the street rats have arrived," Jafar remarks ominously.


	26. Jafar's power

**Max's name has been changed to Kaze. I apologize for any confusion this may cause.**

**DSCLAIMER: I don't own Kingdom Hearts**

* * *

"Let Jasmine go, Jafar!" Aladdin commands.

"How about I don't, and you give me the lamp," he suggests.

"And just why would we do that!" Matt challenges.

"I guess I'll have to do it myself!" Jafar sneers. The eyes of Jafar's staff glow brighter than ever and Genie's lamp obtains an aura of the same color. It began to float out of Aladdin's pocket and zipped toward Jafar before we could do anything.

"This won't end well," Donald says, stepping slightly back.

"The genie, its power, it's finally mine!" Jafar rubs the lamp furiously as the pink tinged blue smoke starts to pour out. "I wish to be the most powerful sorcerer in the world!"

"Coming right up Al... Wait, you're not Aladdin!" Genie says as he materializes.

"You are under my command now, Genie! Now grant my wish!"

Reluctantly, Genie points a finger at Jafar and a small burst of magic hits Jafar in the chest. "Genie, no!" We all scream.

"Sorry, guys. He's the boss now." A large tornado of red energy forms around Jafar, completely obscuring him from crow.

"Definitely not good!" Sora yells over the maelstrom. This wasn't good at all! When the twister died down, Jafar was floating off of the ground, a powerful aura emanating from him.

"We have to get that lamp away from him!" Yen whispers. We all nod in agreement. If we can get the lamp fro Jafar, we could wish for Jafar's powers to go away.

Wordlessly, we all split up to attack Jafar from all sides. Sora and I jump into the air and swing our Keyblades, but Jafar flies upward and we end up hitting eachother. A crushing pain fills my head as Sora's Kingdom Key slams onto my same happens to Sora. We both slump to the ground, too dazed to stand up.

"So that's how much Keyblades hurt," we both groan at the same time. Yen and Donald try to attack next. Donald fires a blizzard spell and Yen shoots a fireball. Jafar somehow redirects the spells to hit eachother. Yen's fireball slams into Donald and Yen is frozen in a block of Ice. Another failure.

"Get ready!" Matt yells as he and Goofy try to attack. Matt's Keyblade slams into Goofy's shield and the force shakes them both up. "We'll played," Matt moans.

Finally, Raven tries to successfully land a hit. He casts fire on his Keyblade and swings diagonally at Jafar. A wave of fire surfs toward Jafar and hits him in the stomach. He is sent spiraling back, but otherwise seems unhurt.

"This is becoming tedious," Jafar says, "Genie, my second wish! Destroy them!" Genie looks shocked for a moment before he looks down sadly.

"Look out!" I yell as Genie flies toward us.

"Watch out!" Genie says as he swings a fist. He was trying to warn us of when he would attack. After a few minutes of us running away from Genie and trying to get to Jafar, he says, "If you want something done, you have to do it yourself!"

He begins to mutter complete jibberish and a powerful burst of fire comes from his staff and toward Yen. "Ice!" Yen yells to counter. A shard of ice bursts from his Keyblade and collides with the fire. The spells wrestle for dominance until the fire melts the ice and hurtles straight at Yen.

The fire hits Yen in the chest and the next thing I knew, he was on the ground. "Incoming!" I hear Genie yell behind me. I roll out of the way just before Genie's fist would have hit me.

Jafar continued to cast spells around the chamber as I healed Yen with a potion. When he got back up, I had an idea. "Do you think you have enough strength for a good lightning spell?" I ask Yen.

He nods and gets Donald. Together , we each cast a different spell that collides with Godly Strength. The end result is my Keyblade glistening with the many elements. Ice completely covered the blade and fire and lightning ran around inside the ice.

I charged at Jafar as my torso erupted in a white light. At the last moment, Jafar turned and saw me running, but it was too late for him. Godly Strength clashed with his staff and broke it in two. As I began to hit Jafar left and right, fire, ice and lightning burst out of the Keyblade until the ice layer was almost gone. Then, I stood a few feet back from Jafar and pointed my Keyblade at him. The white aura surrounding my body grew even brighter and shrank into Godly Strength. A giant ice ball filled with lightning and fire flew out and struck Jafar in the chest.

He flew to the ground and left a huge crater in it. He wasn't finished yet though. As I collapsed from exhaustion, Sora's body was enveloped in a golden light. He dashes through Jafar too quickly to see five times and after that, begins to attack with strikes even faster. Within the course of ten seconds, Jafar is on the ground, defeated.

"I guess we didn't need too take the lamp after all," Aladdin comments as we all crowd around.

"Think again, street rat! Genie! Turn me into an all powerful Genie!"

"Are you sure?" He asks nervously.

"Grant my wish!"

"Okay..." With a puff of red smoke, Jafar is gone, only his cackling voice can be heard. Suddenly, the ground begins to shake and some of the rocks in floor begin to fall.

"We have to get out of here!" Raven commands. Aladdin grabs Genie's lamp and we all escape the crumbling chamber.


	27. Jafar's defeat

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts**.

* * *

"Is everyone okay?" Aladdin asks after we escape.

"Yeah, we're fine," I say, "but where's Jafar?" Sora was peeking his head through the doorway whil we talked.

"Um, you guys might want to see this," he says nervously. We all look inside the lamp chamber and see that the center of the floor has entirely caved in.

"I think we've found him," Yen whispers.

"Then lets just go get him!" Matt says. He tries to run in, but Genie stops him.

"It's not that simple," Genie says, "Jafar's a genie now. He can't be stopped." This is not good.

"We've got to do something!" Raven says.

"Yeah, we'll find a way to beat him!" Everyone agrees and rushes inside despite Genie's warning.

"Why do I keep getting involved in these situations?" I hear Genie complain.

Down in the gaping hole is a room with many platforms rising out of lava. Jafar is nowhere to be seen. Yet.

"How are we going to get down there?" Goofy wonders. "That's a long drop!" Suddenly, Carpet comes flying in.

"That's how." Raven says. Everyone piles onto Carpet after it grows, but I stay behind for a second.

"What's this?" On the ground is a small, red stone. Intrigued, I pick it up and stuff it pin my pocket.

"Kaze, hurry up!" Donald yells.

"Yeah, I'm coming." We all climb aboard and Carpet nosedives to the nearest platform, but pulls up at the last second. As soon as we all climb off, the lava beneath us ripples quickly. It raises and becomes a large red geniecould an tell its Jafar.

"I knew you street rats couldn't defeat me!" Jafar laughs. Surprisingly, red parrot crashes into the side of my head.

"Watch it!" I yell at it. For some reason, it is carrying a black lamp, covered by many layers of magic.

"Iago! I told you to keep that lamp safe!"

"Sorry!" Iago says as he tries to get away. Wait, Jafar's a genie now. Genies can be trapped in lamps!

"That's it guys! He's a genie, so we can trap him in that lamp!" We all turn to Iago.

"Uh-oh!"

"Get him!" We all charge toward Iago, but a giant boulder is thrown, blocking our path before it breaks.

"I can not allow you to reach that lamp!" Jafar booms. His hands sparkle with red power until the platforms start to move up and down. Some were too high to reach, while others fell down to the lava. At the same time, Jafar was hefting another boulder onto his shoulders.

"Run!" Sora shouts. We all split up as the rock hits where we just stood. Because I'm closest to Iago, I go after him. He sees me and flaps his wings even faster to get away. Before I know it, the platform I'm on begins to sink slightly. I can't jump high enough to reach Iago! Raven is the one who comes to my rescue. He pulls me out of the hole and we chase after Iago together.

"Fire!" A burst of flame comes from Raven's Keyblade and strikes Iago. He galls to the ground and we set upon destroying the barrier around Jafar's lamp. Before we can, Iago gets up and a flies away once more.

"Oh no you don't!" Another rock is flung at us and we narrowly escape. Now, Raven and I were surrounded by overly large towers of stone. As we wait for a chance to get out, I hear Iago fall again and the others destroying the barrier. Iago soon comes flying overhead and I fire a blizzard spell at him. He drops to the ground between Raven and I.

"The shield is almost gone," Raven observes. We shoot many spells at the barrier until it breaks open in a flash of light.

"Not good!" Iago cries, "I've gotta get out of here!" He flies away like the coward he is.

"Let's get rid of Jafar, once and for all!" I say, lamp in hand. It radiates and icy fury. The platforms that served as our prison finally lower and we meet up with the others.

"You got the lamp!" Sora cheers.

"We just have to trap him now," Matt says. I nod.

"Hey, Jafar!" I call out. Jafar sees the lap and goes pale. Or, at least as pale a red being can get. "You know what stinks about being a Genie? Phenomenal power,"

"But an itty-bitty living space!" Sora finishes. The lamp's spout glows and begins to absorb Jafar into it.

"No! I can't be beaten! I have all the power!" He notices Iago trying to escape. "This is your fault!" He yells. I didn't see the logic, but Jafar grabs Iago and pulls him into the lamp.

"I don't want to spend eternity with you!" I hear Iago complain.

"Too bad!" I could still hear them arguing from inside the lamp.

"Come on, let's go," Aladdin says.

* * *

We sealed the black lamp in the deepest part of the Cave of Wonders. No one would ever find it. We go back to the Lamp Chamber to find Jasmine, but she's nowhere to be seen. "Where is she?" Aladdin wonders sadly.

"I think I know," Sora says, "Just like Alice, she was taken by the heartless."

"What!"

"Don't worry, we'll find her."Raven reassures him. Just then, Godly Strength randomly appears in my hand. It to pulls itself in the direction of the repeating Keyholes. The center one glows and becomes a deep abyss. Godly Strength collects light into itself and shoots a beam of blue light at it. A resounding click resonates throughout the room and the Keyhole disappears as if nothing happened.

"What was that?" I ask worried something bad might happen.

"That was the world's Keyhole: the doorway to its heart." Sora says. "Now, the heartless can't destroy this place. That was a relief. We start to leave when the Keyhole glows once more. Four beams of blue light rush out and strike Yen, Raven, Matt, and I. I can't move and my vision starts fading away. The last thing I hear is Sora's voice.

"Kaze!"


	28. New power

**Sorry for yet another delay! Writers block! :( I have more ideas now, so I can update more.**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own KH**

* * *

I am falling through darkness. I can see nothing anywhere. At first I'm terrified to be surrounded by so much darkness. I know the light is where I belong. Then, a calming sensation spreads through me. "I guess I'll need to help," sighs a voice in my head.

Suddenly, a light shines beneath me. It forms into the shape of a keyhole. As I fall through it, I ask, "Who are you?"

"No one important."

* * *

"Why is it so cold and wet?" I think to myself. I open my eyes and see everything around me is water! I panic for a few seconds before realizing I can breath. This is getting weird.

"Kaze!" I hear Raven call out. I turn, but a strange sight meets my eyes. Raven is shirtless and in place of legs, he has a large, blue fish tail. Likewise, I look the same, but with a green tail.

"What happened to us?" Yen questions. He has a black tail.

"I think we're mermen," Matt says. His tail is red.

"What!" We all cry out.

"Well, that would make sense," Yen whispers.

"We should probably find a way to the gummi ship. I don't think Sora came here with us."

"Wait, who's that?" Matt asks. Swimming by is a merman with a brown mullet and a black tail.

"I don't know, but I'm getting a bad feeling from him," I say.

"Well, of course! He's obviously up to something!" That voice from before says in my head. I ignore it.

"Let's just follow him." After a few unsuccessful tries at swimming without success, Yen finally figured it out and explained to us. Luckily, the guy didn't get too far before we caught up.

"What are you up to?" Matt shouts at the man after we catch up.

"What? Um, I was just…" he stutters, "I knew I wasn't right for this job! Why would they send me here?" What is he talking about?

"Do I have to explain everything to you? He's with the organization!"

"Get out of my head!" I growl aloud. I pay no attention to everyone's stares.

"If you haven't noticed, I'm stuck in here, so that's not going to happen!"

"I don't care, get out!"

"Um, is he okay?" The organization member asks.

"I'm not sure…"

"Forget it! I know your with the organization!" I say. He recoils and I know that I'm right. "Now, why do you keep following us?"

"I can't tell you that kind of thing." He says.

"Then we'll just force the information out of you!"

"Sorry, can't do that!" A group of bubbles materializes in his hand and becomes a blue sitar.

"What do you plan to do with that?" Matt jokes, "Play us a song?" For the most part, he's right about the song. The man strums one note and a strong current forces us all into a nearby rock.

"I'm outta here!" He swims away quickly while we try to get our bearings.

"I'm guessing he has control over water," I tell the group, "Let's chase after him!"

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Raven asks, "Who knows what he could do with us while underwater!"

"We'll find a way to beat him! He's obviously a poor fighter if all he does is run!" I argue.

"Whatever." We managed to get close enough to see the man, but we couldn't get close enough to attack.

"We can't catch up!" Matt says, "That guitar of his is helping the currents push him along."

"I could help you know," the voice says.

"Oh yeah? How?"

"First of all, you can just think and I'll hear it. Second, I can do this!" A strange feeling fills my chest and my hands begin to glow a dark color. Without thinking about it, my arms reach out toward the man and the dark energy from me leaps toward the Organization member. It hits him, and his muscles locks up, leaving him immobilized.

"What did you do to me?" He yells obviously panicked. I am also freaked out. How and why did I use the power of darkness? My element is light. My friends were also staring at me like I was an entirely different person. Almost like an enemy.

"What did you do to me?" I demand in thought.

"What? You don't like darkness?" He snickers.

"Okay, okay! I'll tell you!" The man whimpers.

"That's better." As we all relax, the darkness holding the man withers and he escapes from its grip.

"I'm out of here! Again!" With that, he opened a corridor of darkness and swam into it.

"He got away." I groan.

"It's your fault for losing hold on the darkness." The voice explains, "When handeling darkness, you need to take full control!"

"Now that he's gone," Yen begins, "Why were you using Darkness!" My friends were all staring at me angrily. I look down in despair.

"I don't know why, but this voice is in my head. He's been talking to me and managed to use Darkness through me." They all look at me in shock.

"Who is this guy and why is he invading your thoughts?" Raven wonders.

"If you must know, it's Vanitas," he answers although only I can hear. The name alone sends chills down my spine.


	29. Going solo

**Italics in quotations are conversations between Kaze and Vanitas. Just to clear that up.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own KH.**

* * *

"_I'm going to tell you one more time!" I yell at Vanitas, "Get out of my head!_" We've been in the gummi ship for about an hour after leaving the water world, Atlantica. Since then, I've been trying to get Vanitas out of my head.

"_Sorry, I can't do that!" _Vanitas laughs_, "I would if I could, but we're stuck together!_"

"I wish we weren't," I groan out loud.

"You okay, Kaze?" Matt asks, concerned.

"How could I be okay?" I snap. "I've got a guy in my head who's making me use darkness!" I can see the hurt in Matt's face, so I quickly add, "Sorry. I don't know what came over me."

"_I know_," Vanitas adds.

"_Shut up!_" I telepathically yell.

"It's okay," Matt says. "I get it. Well, not really…"

"We're coming up on the next world," Yen whispers, thankfully changing the subject. "It's called Halloween town."

"Why is there a world based on a holiday?" Raven wonders aloud.

"Does it matter?" Matt says. "It's Halloween! We might get some candy!" I perk up at the mention of candy.

"Really?" Raven says. "Do you have any other reasons for going?"

"_What's his problem?_" Vanitas says.

"Well, my friends could be there." I suggest.

"And they might not be there. Let's move on!"

"But what about the Organization?" Matt says. "They've been in every world along with heartless. We can't just let them mess up everyone's worlds!"

"Besides, Raven, you're outvoted." Yen says. Before Raven can protest, he presses the warp button and after a flash of light, we're standing on a long path that I assume goes into town.

The sky is dark and a few gray clouds float in it. Everything is dark, including the color scheme of the world. Everything is darker than normal, including the paved path and walls surround it. Even the grass is a dark green. The only things bright are the many orange lights along the path.

The biggest shock is ourselves. My clothes have become ripped and dark. To my surprise, black fur protrudes from every hole. In fact, my entire body is covered in it. My teeth have become larger and pointed and my face resembles that of a dog's. My hands look the same, but furry, and my feet are like paws. I've turned into a werewolf!

Yen's eyes now glow red and his teeth are as sharp as mine. He is wearing an outfit that resembles a pirate's, but it is faded and torn in places. His left hand is covered in bandages and looks like it's barely connected. It looks like it could fall off any second. A dull cutlass and faded whip hangs at his side along with a small bag full of something. Scars are all along his arms as well. Yen seems to put most of his weight on his left leg for some reason.

Raven has become a werewolf like me. He has a spiked collar around his neck and is wearing a sleeveless, black shirt. He's also wearing wristbands and tattered jeans.

Matt has become a wizard. He's wearing an old fanshioned robe and pointy wizard hat. Both are black.

"What happened to us?" I gasp at the sight of us.

"I knew something annoying would happen." Raven complains. Something really seems off about him lately. Ever since Twilight Town…

"At least that takes care of the costume problem!" Matt says.

"I'm okay with this too!" Yen exclaims. "I can finally see in the dark!"

"Forget that for now! Let's go get some candy!"

"You know what, Matt?" I say. "They probably don't have any candy here. This world seems centered on the trick part of Halloween." That stops him in his tracks.

"I guess we can help people anyway." Matt says.

"Hello!" Calls a voice. "I've never seen you around here before." A tall, lanky skeleton comes down the path toward us. He's wearing a long, all black suit, which for some reason, suits him.

"That's because we're from… um." I try to explain, but nothing comes up. Raven comes to my rescue, though.

"We're from the a town about fifty miles away." He explains. "Don't try to look for it! It's hidden."

"I guess that makes sense. Anyway, my name is Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King!" At that, lightning strikes, illuminating the world eerily. I'm not sure if that was just good timing or something Jack himself. "Who are you?"

"I'm Kaze. These are my friends, Matt, Yen, and Raven."

"I can introduce myself, Kaze!" Raven complains.

Ignoring Raven's comment, Jack continues, "I assume you've come to see the Halloween spectacular I've put on for this year? It's going to be a blast!"

"Yeah, that's right!" Matt says, "We totally came for that!"

"Then come on into Halloween Town! The terrors will start in a few minutes!" We follow Jack down the path and into town. Along the way, i hear a strange thumping sound from Yen. He doesn't seem to have peg leg though. I send him a questioning look and he shrugs.

When we enter town, a disturbing sight meets us. In the town square, dozens of heartless dressed as mummies are floundering around the square in an awkward dance. In the center of the area is a large and threatening guillotine.

"What's this place?" Raven asks Jack.

"This is guillotine Square, the center of Halloween Town." He answers.

"Follow up question," Raven continues, "Why are there heartless dancing?"

"Do you like the dancing they're doing?" Jack asks us as we stare in confusion. "We're not sure why they're doing what we say, but it sure is horrifying, right?"

"Sorry to tell you this, Jack," I begin, "but those are extremely dangerous!"

"Nonsense!" He laughs. "I know other heartless are dangerous, but these ones haven't attacked anyone! They're dancing is pretty bad, though. I should ask Dr. Finklestein about this." Lost in thought, Jack absentmindedly heads toward a large building, leaving the four of us with the strange heartless.

"What should we do?" Ten asks. "If we destroy the heartless, Jack's going to be pretty mad."

After a few moments of thought, I answer. "We shouldn't destroy the heartless. At least, not now. Like Jack said, they're not hurting anybody."

"_But they could attack later._" Vanitas comments. "_You know, heartless kinda remind me of the unversed_." Right when he says that, an image of the mark I drew on the table in Twilight Town flashes through my head.

"_That was a heartless symbol!_" I exclaim mentally.

"_Not heartless, unversed. They're two completely different things_." That makes me feel a little better.

"Arguing with you other half, I see." Says a woman's voice. A controlled, bright green flame flares up right in front of us and we all jump back in surprise. When the fire goes down, a woman in black robes is standing there. She would look normal if not for the oddly green skin.

"You're Maleficent, aren't you!" Yen gasps.

"Ah, so you do know of me. That gets the introductions out of the way."

"What do you want?" Yen says in a normal voice. He is obviously mad at this Maleficent for some reason. Matt and Raven are also angered by her presence.

"I just thought you'd like to know about the whereabouts of your friend, Kairi." Maleficent answers. "I suppose I was wrong, though." She knows where Kairi is! But how?

"Wait, what do you know about Kairi?" I blurt out.

"She's being held in Oogie Boogie's mansion. As prisoner."

"What?" That can't be right! Kairi can't be trapped in some guy's castle on an entirely different world! I have to save her!

"Come on guys!" I say. "We're saving my friend!" I begin to walk away, but Maleficent stops me.

"But you don't even know where Oogie's mansion is! And besides, it's quite dangerous." Maleficent says, stopping me. "You might want to wait for Sora or Riku to come help. They are stronger than you, right?" That struck a nerve. I've always known they were better at fighting than me, and it's always made me mad.

I spin around angrily. "No, they're not stronger than me!" I snap. "I have a Keyblade and I'm strong enough to take care of myself!"

"I thought you might say that. The mansion is down past the graveyard and moonlight hill. Good luck." With that, she disappears in a green fire.

"Kaze, don't listen to her!" Yen whispers urgently. "Maleficent is the one who destroyed our world! She's probably tricking you!"

"I don't care if she destroyed a million worlds! She knows where Kairi is and I'm going to save her! With or without you guys!" I storm off toward the graveyard on the other end of the square. None of my friends follow, but that's fine with me.

"_You know, they're probably right,_" Vanitas comments. "_I know Maleficent. This is a trap!_"

"_So what? Are you going to try and stop me too?_"

"_No way! I love an anger fueled task. That just means more darkness!_" For once, I don't care if I used the Darkness because of Vanitas. If it means it will be easier to save Kairi, I'll do whatever it takes. "_That's what I like to hear!_" Vanitas cheers.

I soon reach moonlight hill. It looks like a normal hill, except it curls up at the end. The curls end faces a wall and I can see a large tree house-like building above it. I try to climb the wall, but the spiked parts at the top block my path. "How am I going to do this?" I wonder aloud.

Suddenly, a hoard of the mummy heartless from Guillotine Square appear from dark portals. "I knew they were up to no good!" I mutter as I summon _Godly Strength_. When the glow around it fades though, a different Keyblade is in its place.

The guard is the pure white and shines brightly. The blade is the same color, but is surrounded by spiraling darkness all around it. The darkness ends in three curved spikes on the side of the Keyblade.

"_Cloaked Light,_" I breath. There's no time to question the sudden transformation, though because the mummified heartless all attack. I manage to cut down the first few with ease, but the swarm soon becomes too much to handle.

"_Here, let me help_!" Vanitas says. The darkness coiled around cloaked light begins to grow until everything is surrounded by pitch black darkness. The heartless are unable to move, but I can! I dash through the crowd with my Keyblade swinging until the Darkness enveloping us shrinks back around Cloaked Light.

At that point, the heartless feel the attacks I dealt while they were frozen and begin to jerk and spasm wildly. After a few seconds, they all fade back into darkness, the hearts they held floating away.

"That takes care of that problem," I grunt, satisfied. "Now to deal with the wall." I walk to the top of the curved hill to get a better look, but instead, the curled part extends itself, letting me cross right over the fence.

"This must be Oogie Boogie's mansion." I comment upon arriving at the large treehouse-like structure. The incredibly large, gnarled tree supports the many platforms of wooden planks and other strucyures scattered around the branches. at the top of the tree is a small buildimg which is where I assume the main room is.

We had just arrived at the bottom of the structure and I can see no way up. I circle the tree looking for a foothold, but I soon come across a bathtub with legs. Curious, I walk over to it to investigate. As soon as I touch it, the tub starts walking toward the treehouse. I realize what it's doing when it starts climbing up the tree vertically!

I grab the edge of the tub before it gets to high to reach, but the tub doesn't show any signs of slowing down. It climbs higher and higher until I'm suspended high above the ground by one hand. Summoning the last of my strength, I haul myself over the edge of the tub and pull myself in. The tub soon makes its way to the top, where I promptly get off. There's no way I'm riding that again!

"_Now we just have to get to the top!_" Vanitas declares.

"_You know what? I'm starting to think I'm going crazy talking to you_."

"_Well, I am just a voice in your head."_

"_True_." Before long, I reach the top of the tree where the small house I saw is. I summon Cloaked Light and push open the door, ready to face whatever waits me.


	30. the power of Darkness

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts.**

* * *

"Okay, Oogie! Where's Kairi?" I shout, barging into the room. The building is void of people, though. There is just a bunch of odd furniture including a ragged couch and a strange machine covered in levers.

"_That killed the moment!_" Vanitas laughs. I ignore him and explore the little space the small building offers.

"_Now what?_" I groan mentally. There doesn't seem to be any way to proceed!

"_Try the levers, genius!_" Vanitas suggests rather rudely. I pull one of the levers down and the sound of clanking metal fills the area. I look outside to see a large metal cage being lowered in between two parts of a bridge.

"That must be where we need to go!" I exclaim.

"_Thank you, captain obvious! You're so much like that idiot!_" I feel a wave a rage emanate from Vanitas and throughout me. I start shaking with anger and an uncontrollable orb of dark energy forms in my hand.

"Cut it out, Vanitas!" I accidentally yell aloud. It's not like anyone can hear me anyway.

"_You're just lucky I didn't accidentally create an unversed. That would have been a problem. I do love mayhem though..."_ He seems lost in his own private thoughts, so I travel down the tree until I reach the large bird cage. I jump the large gap between the bridge and cage, but barely make it. I then try the next jump and somehow make it without a hitch.

I continue down the path until I reach a green door. It must lead somewhere important, so I go inside.

"_This guy has some serious problems_!" Vanitas says as we behold the strange sight that awaited us in this room.

The entire area is designed like a giant roulette game. The different slots for the 'ball' are all red and blocked off from each other by large, spiked poles. Of course, on the other side of the room is what interests me the most; Kairi.

She's slumped over seemingly asleep or unconcious. But that doesn't matter, we're finally together again. Now I just need to find Sora and Riku and we can go home!

"Kairi!" No response. "It's me, Kaze!" Still no response. I try to make my way over to her, but a set of poles sprout up, preventing me from doing just that.

"_Kaze, look out_!" Vanitas warns. "_Behind you!_" I spin around and see a large heartless shaped much like a knight. It is about three times my hight and looks exactly like the zip slasher from Deep Jungle. The only differences being the hight and color, for this one was mostly red.

Before I can dodge, the heartless stabs its blade hands right at me, knocking me down into the roulette table. Almost immediately, the wheel begins to spin and I begin to lose my sense of balance. I fall over within a few seconds and eventually, the wheel spins so fast that I am thrown painfully against the bars.

The spinning stops, and I see I'm right in front of the heartless. "You're going to pay for that!" I snarl once I regain balance. I jump out and stab the heartless on its forehead. Cloaked Light sinks right in and a sudden pulse of darkness races from my hands and into the heartless.

The heartless and I are thrown violently away as a large explosion erupts from Cloaked Light. Fortunately, only the heartless lands in the roulette wheel. As with me, the wheel begins to spin of its own accord. The heartless is thrown into the bars and darkness begins to leak from its helmet. It manages to stand up, though.

"You want more!" I taunt. "Then come get me!" The heartless jumps into the air and positions itself over me. I try to dodge, but the heartless barrels down on me no matter which direction I run. I roll out of the way instinctively just as the heartless collides with the ground, creating a small shock wave.

"Fira!" I cast. The fireball connects with the heartless, but doesn't seem to do any damage. "Try some lightning!" Likewise, lightning doesn't do any damage either. I dodge out of the way of its stabbing attack and try more spells, but it doesn't seem to do any damage. "_Why aren't my spells doing anything?"_ I ask Vanitas.

"_You don't know any other spells? Here, try this one_." Vanitas lifts Cloaked Light with my hand and fires a blast of wind from it. The heartless is knocked back down into the wheel and is beat up once more. When it arises this time, darkness is leaking from every chink in its armor. If heartless could look angry, this one fit the bill.

The heartless leaps out of the roulette wheel and creates another shockwave, throwing me into the metal bars surrounding us. It then poises its blades for an attack, but instead of attacking right away, it waits. I can see its blades beginning to glow and absorb light within them. I manage to stand up, but just as I do, the heartless stabs both blades into me.

I fall into the wheel like before, and am thrown wildly about. By now, I am almost finished. I can always manage a little extra, though. "_Got any more tricks_?" I ask Vanitas.

"_Just one. You may not have enough_ _control over darkness to use it, though_."

"_Whatever it takes!_"

"_Fine. You asked for it_." As I climb up, I see my reflection in the shiny metal. My eyes fade from their usual blue to a bright gold. "That will go away eventually." Vanitas says. When I reach the top, Vanitas takes control.

I jump into the air and am cloaked in darkness. I aim Cloaked Light at the ground and dive right in. The next thing I know, I pop up out of the ground right under the heartless. The heartless is thrown to the ground and I go under once more. In a second, I'm bursting from the ground damaging the heartless once more.

Once again, I go into the metal, but when I emerge under the heartless this time, many fireballs fall onto it. I land on the ground to see the heartless slowly fade away, releasing the crystal-like heart within. The heart floats up and out of the building, never to be seen again.

With the heartless gone, the metal polls surrounding our battle field immediately sink back into the ground. I look at the reflective metal of the floor and see my eyes going back to their normal color. That attack took a lot out of me though.

Unwillingly, Cloaked Light vanishes from my hand out of exhaustion. I try to walk over to Kairi, but my tiredness gets the better of me and I fall to the ground. As my eyes close, I see a person hear into the other side of the room.

"So Maleficent was fight after all!" He exclaims. "He did come to save her." Before I can hear any more, I pass out.

* * *

Once more, I am falling through water. I begin to panic, but then I realize I can breathe. This is just like the dream that started all of this! I continue to fall head first until I slowly flip onto my feet.

Like before, I take a a small step and dives fly out of the darkness below me, revealing the stained glass platform beneath. Only this time, the platform is different. Instead of the woman usually depicted, I am shown here. Around my head are six circles, each showing one of my friends: Sora, Kairi, Riku, Matt, Yen, and Raven.

The glass is mostly blue-green and around the rim is a ring of circles. They all show the crown symbol neckless Sora and I wear.

"I told you that attack would use up too much darkness." Vanitas says. I don't hear it in my head though. It's like he's really talking to me. A dark corridor appears and out steps a figure wearing a mask that covers his face. His outfit seems to be composed of living darkness in the shape of veins or vines, coming around his body. It is red and black, and makes an imposing heart in the center.

"Who are you?" I demand, jumping back. I summon Cloaked Light into my hand and get ready to attack.

"Don't you recognize me?" Wait a minute, that was Vanitas's voice! The visor covering his face fades away, leaving just the metal parts around the rim. When his face is revealed, I stare in horrified shock. He looks just like me!

"Surprised?" Vanitas asks. I can only nod. "Yes, I guess it is strange to find someone who looks exactly like you, but you have a twin. Shouldn't you be used to this?"

"Why do you… Why do you look like me?"

"Why should I tell you? Besides, you'll find out about my origins soon enough. Ask Yen Sid or Mickey. They'll tell you everything."

"Why do you look like me!" I demand even more forcefully. I charge at him in anger, but when I hit him, he freezes only to appear above my head. I look up and he brings down a strange Keyblade upon my head. I can't get a good look before my world fades out once again.

* * *

I open my eyes. I seem to be in some sort of dungeon, only the walls are made out of wood. What am I doing here? Then I remember exactly what had happened. Who was that guy? And why did he mention Maleficent?

"I told you it was a trap." Vanitas taunts.

"Shut up, clone!" I mentally yell.

"We're two different people. I'm not a clone."

"Just help me find a way out of here." Vanitas stays silent, so I guess I'm on my own. I look around my cell, but there doesn't seem to be a possible way out.

"Keyblade!" Vanitas sighs. I feel myself blush slightly at that obvious solution and unlock my cell. I walk out to explore the dungeon. After walking for a little, I finally see Kairi in another cell. I quickly unlock hers as well and try to wake her up.

"Kairi! Come on, we can go now!" I plead. She doesn't move, though. I try to shake her awake, but that doesn't work either. I hang my head, but then I hear a strange twinkling sound. I look up and next to Kairi is a Wayfinder. The one she made while we were still at home.

I pick it up and it turns into a Keychain. "How did that happen? And why won't she wake up?"

"The girl's heart has left her," a familiar voice says. A green flame sprouts from the ground and Maleficent steps out. "She will not wake unless you find it for her."

"Why should I trust you? For all I know, you did this!"

"You are wise not to trust me. After all, I do side with the darkness."

"I'll save Kairi without you!"

"I'm afraid you won't." A Corridor of Darkness forms around Kairi and she disappears. "Kairi is part of a much bigger picture. Come to me in Hollow Bastion if you must save her."

With that said, Maleficent fades into her green flames. I am seething with anger. A ball of darkness appears in my hand involuntarily. I gaze at the Wayfinder Kairi gave me and the darkness disapates as I am filled with a warm light. I will save my friends, even if I have to travel the universe!

However, I will not use the darkness any longer. I can do it with light! And my friends, Matt, Yen, and Raven. I was stupid to leave them, but they could be anywhere! I'll just have to go on until we meet again.

Suddenly, a violent tremor racks the building. The wooden walls of the tree somehow turn to a dirty cloth and the room begins to fill with bugs. "Are you sure you don't want to use any darkness?" Vanitas asks, disgusted. The bugs were now up to my knees.

"Maybe just one Corridor of Darkness."

"Coming right up!" A wave of darkness envelops me and everything goes black.


	31. Chapter 31

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts.**

* * *

The corridor deposits me in a house I've never seen before. Luckily, it's in a bed. Unfortunately, I'm right in the middle of what seems to be a meeting. "What's up?" I ask sheepishly.

"Are you Sora's brother?" A black haired girl asks. She is dressed in all strange, green shirt and tan shorts. She is also wearing a yellow scarf and two orange, fingerless gloves. She is holding a very large, intimidating shurikan.

"Yeah, I am. Now who are you guys?" I ask.

"I'm the Great Ninja Yuffie!" The girl with the shurikan declares.

"Leon." A man with brown hair states bluntly. He is wearing a white shirt under a leather jacket and black pants. He is holding a weapon that looks like a gun and a sword combined.

The last person is a woman with light brown hair and kind, green eyes. She is wearing a pink dress. "And I am Aerith." She says.

"I'm Kaze, but you probably know that already. How do you guys know Sora?"

"When Sora came to Traverse Town about a week ago," Aerith begins, "he was looking for you, Riku, and Kairi. We helped him for the time he was here, and then, when he came back a few times."

"That reminds me," Leon says, "Merlin wanted to meet you."

"Who's Merlin?" I question.

"You'll see soon enough. Just go down the stairs right outside this house. He lives behind the door with the flame on it."

"Thanks, but do you know where Sora is now?"

"No. He went looking for you a two days ago. He's still out there in other worlds."

"You still have to find your group." Vanitas adds silently.

"Bye, thanks for the information." I say when I leave.

"Don't forget to come back often!" Yuffie shouts after me.

"I won't!" I walk outside and realize I'm in the Third District. Down the stairs is a stone door with a flame picture on it, just like Leon had said. I try to pull it open, but it doesn't budge.

"Try using a spell!" Vanitas sighs. "It's like I'm the only one using any brains here!" I do as Vanitas suggested and I shoot a blast of fire at the door. With a loud rumble, the door slides open.

"What a great idea! I'm glad I thought of it!" I joke.

"Your idea? That was mine!" Vanitas continues to rage while I try to tune him out. Inside of the door is a large lake with a small cottage on an island in the middle. For crossing the lake, four large stones float back and forth across the lake.

I jump across without a problem and eventually find a way in. Inside, the shack is dark, dank, and frankly, uninhabitable. How could anyone live here?

"Is that you Kaze? Asks a voice. An elderly man comes inside the cottage. He is wearing a blue robe and hat and has a long, gray beard.

"You must be Merlin!" I exclaim.

"That I am, boy! Now let me fix this place up!" He pulls a slender wand out from his sleeve and begins to wave it around. A trail of sparkles follows the wand until a bright flash envelops the room.

When I can see again, the room looks much better. The building has become brighter and a table now sits on a raised platform. It is still cluttered as books are stacked up all over. One book catches my eye, though.

"I'll be with you in a minute!" Merlin says, digging through his bag. I walk over to the book to get a closer look. Unlike almost every other book in the room, this book is on a special stand and seems to shine with a special light. The title reads: Winnie the Pooh.

The cover is suspiciously blank, but I ignore that little detail as I open the book. "Oh, and don't touch that book back there, Kaze!" Merlin calls out. That is the last thing I hear as a white light fills my vision.

* * *

"Are you okay, Somebody-That-I-Don't-Know?" Someone asks. I open my eyes and see a strange yellow, stuffed bear wearing a red shirt far too small for its big stomach.

"Woah!" I yell sitting up. Why is there so much weird stuff happening lately? "Who are you?"

"My name is Winnie-The-Pooh, but all of my friends call me Pooh."

"My name is Kaze. What is this place?"

"Why, it's the 100 acre wood of course!" It certainly is big.

"Nice to meet you Pooh, but I have to find a way back to my home."

"Can't you stay to play?" Pooh pleads. "You remind me so much of Sora."

I change my mind. "You know, I guess I can stay. I haven't had a break in forever." Pooh seems happy, so I get a look at our surroundings. A small hill with a large tree is nearby across a small river. On the tree is a small swing.

While I look, a stuffed, gray donkey floats down the river, looking depressed. "Eyore!" Pooh calls. "Whatever is the matter?"

"Everything." Eyore sighs. "Especially now that I've lost my tail."

"Again?" Says a new voice. With a fluttering sound, a brown owl flies down to stand nearby. "Oh, and who might you be?" The owl asks.

"Kaze." I state. "Who are you?"

"I am Owl, from the greatest line of owls evere seen in this forest. My family descends from the…" he continues to go on about himself while I haul Eyore out of the river. As a matter of fact, his tail was missing. How does that even happen?

Pooh interrupts Owl's oral biography. "I know! You can swing me on the swing and I'll be able to see where the tail is!"

"What a splendid idea, Pooh!" Owl exclaims.

"If it doesn't work, I won't blame ya." Eyore drones. What a pessimist!

In a few minutes, we are prepared to swing Pooh. "Ready?" I ask him.

"Ready as I'll ever be!" He answers. I begin to swing Pooh back and forth until he's incredibly high up. "I think I see it! Just one more push!"

I give Pooh one last push and he goes as high as I ever thought possible for a makeshift swing. To my surprise, Pooh actually flies off of the swing and into the sky.

"Pooh!" I cry out. Pooh lands behind some bushes with a loud cracking sound and I rush over to help.

To my relief, the crack was just a pile of sticks. "Are you okay?" I ask Pooh.

"Yes, I'm fine. I found Eyore's tail." Pooh holds up a felt tail with a pink ribbon and a nail in it. Almost like a pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey game I played as a kid. I guess that's what it's supposed to be.

"Look Eyore, Pooh found your tail!" I tell him as he and Owl draw close.

"And broke my house," he sighs.

"Do you mean the pile of sticks? Sorry about that, Eyore."

"It's okay. That house was going to collapse anyway." Eyore sighs. I pin Eyore's tail back on and he thanks me. (Pessimistically)

"Good-bye guys!" I say as I head away from the hill. "I'll see you again soon!" As I leave, the world goes white and I am suddenly back in Merlin's house, holding the book. He is staring at me angrily, though.

"Heh-heh, nice book" I say nervously, "Good plot line and characters."

"I told you not to open that book! You're just like you're brother! Neither of you ever listen!"

"In my defense, I opened it right before you told me not to."

"I guess you're right." He says, the anger leaving his expression. "Now, let's train!"

* * *

After a few hours of training, I had mastered every spell I could learn, except some of the most advanced ones, of course. "You are now ready to find your brother!" Merlin announces when we finish.

"But I can't leave here! I don't have a gummi ship." I counter.

"I can teleport you there! But first, talk to Fairy God Mother over by the door. She has something for you."

I talk to her and she explains some extra things about magic I never knew before. Mainly, summons. "Summons are a special kind of magic," she says, "I can unlock these for you."

"How do they work?" I ask.

"When a person is strong hearted but doesn't survive the destruction of their world, that are turned into summon gems." She explains. "I can restore they're spirits, allowing them to help you fight."

"Is this a summon gem?" I hold out the strange stone I had found in Agrabah and hand it to her.

"Yes, that's exactly right!" She pulls out a magic wand and waves it over the stone. The stone shines brightly and a name pops into my head: Wall-E.

"So that is who is trapped within the gem." Fairy godmother ponders. She gives the stone back to me along with two others: a blue and yellow one. "These are two ice unlocked already. They will help you greatly." With that, Fairy Godmother disappears into a small carriage.

"Are you ready to go, Kaze?" Merlin asks.

"Yes. Send me off!" With a wave of Merlin's wand, he sends me away in a puff of white smoke.


	32. Neverland and betrayal

When the white smoke from Merlin's spell clears up, the wooden walls of the room I'm in are revealed. Am I back in Oogie Boogie's manor? I sure hope not. My fears are quickly relieved because the walls are smooth and polished unlike tree bark. A gentle swaying motion rocks the room.

I notice a nearby door and I'm about to open it when it opens, slamming into my face. I fall onto the floor rubbing my forehead. That's going to leave a mark.

"Kaze! It's you!" A familiar voice exclaims. I look up and see Sora standing over me. He gasps as realization dawns on him. "Did I just hit you with a door? Sorry!" I stand up shakily.

"Just don't do it again!" I growl. Sora seems to remember something.

"We have to tell Yen and Matt! They've been looking for you!"

They've been looking for me? After what I did? "Really?" I say. "That's great but, what about Raven?"

Sora looks down sadly. "Maybe I should let them tell you." He seems upset by this, so I don't push him. Why would he keep this a secret, though?

"Sora, come on!" I hear Donald yell in his usual annoying voice.

"We hafta go save Wendy and Kairi!" Goofy adds. Sora and I step out of the room and are greeted by strange expressions by Donald and Goofy. They quickly got over it, though. Now it is my turn to look down.

"Sora, Kairi isn't herself right now." I state

He turns around quickly. "What do you mean?" He asks.

"Maleficent told me her heart is gone. We have to go to a world called Hollow Bastion to save her."

"Then let's go! After we save Wendy!" Sora declares.

"Are you guys coming or what?" Asks a voice. A young boy in all green clothes comes flying around a corner. That's right, I said flying! A trail of golden sparkles follows him. "We don't have all day!"

"Kaze, this is Peter Pan! We're helping him save Wendy."

That takes care of the introductions, but there's still one thing confusing me. "One question, how are you flying?" Suddenly, a small yellow light also zooms around a corner. When it stops, I can see it's a fairy.

"Perfect timing Tinker Bell!" Peter says. "Do you think you can give Kaze here some pixie dust? Maybe he'll do better than his friends."

Tinker Bell flies back and forth in the air above me, sprinkling golden dust all over me. "Okay, now how do I fly?"

"You just have to believe you can," Peter answers. I jump into the air, but no flying comes. Peter Pan groans. "Not you too! Come on, we have to get going!"

We follow Peter all throughout what I now realize is a ship. Along the way, we had to fight off various heartless. We eventually come to a small room. To my surprise, Riku is waiting there, his back turned.

He turns around. "So, you arrived." He says. Something is off about him. I soon realize the problem. If I look closely, I can see an aura of darkness surrounding him.

"Riku! What are you doing here?" I exclaim.

"The same thing you're doing here. Saving Kairi." He frowns. "Or I guess I should say I'm the only one trying to help her."

Sora steps forward. "Come on, Riku," he pleads, "we can help her together!"

The aura of Darkness around him flares, though I suspect only I can see it as no one reacts. "Yeah right! All you two care about is running around with those Keyblades of yours!"

"Riku, that's not true!" I say.

"Save it! I'm saving Kairi, and you two should just stay out of my way!" The darkness surround Riku flares once more, but instead of going down, it moves to the side and creates a portal. Out of it steps two heartless. However, these heartless aren't normal; they look just like Sora and me!

"Have fun!" Riku taunts before disappearing into a corridor of darkness.

"Riku…" Sora and I sigh in unison.

"We have more problems, you guys!" Donald squawks. The portal had been summoning heartless identical to everyone in the room. Before we can even react, the room is almost full of them. Even the door is blocked off.

"Thunder!" Donald yells. A wave of lightning crashes through the heartless near the door, eliminating a few. Peter Pan tosses his dagger into the air and it gains a slight glow. He snatches it out of the air and slashes through the heartless, wiping out even more. Goofy jumps into the air, spinning around with his shield.

Sora and I summon our Keyblades and attack as well. Before long, we've destroyed most of the heartless, but the portal keeps spamming more. "Let's get out of here!" Goofy yells. We all rush out of the door, slamming it behind us. Sora and I sit down in the front of the door to keep it from opening, but the door keeps getting pounded on.

"How did Riku do that?" Sora gasps.

"It must have something to do with all of the darkness he now has." I say. "Who did that?"

"_Male…ficent obvious… ly_" I hear Vanitas say. His voice is cut off multiple times though. Like a broken CD. What's going on here? For now, I'll just go with Vanitas's explanation for now.

"It's Maleficent. She filled Riku with all of that darkness!" I explain.

"Maleficent?" Sora asks, standing up. "Why would Riku help her?"

"I don't know." I sigh. Wait a minute! All of those comments about saving Kairi alone and us not doing anything for her…

"I've got it! She's telling Riku that he's the only one who can help Kairi! She must have given him some darkness to help him!" Our conversation is cut short, however. The wooden door, held shut by our weight is now creaking with the combined force of our heartless doppelgängers.

"Run!" Donald yells. We dash away from the door just in time. The moment Sora and I leave, the door shatters and dozens of heartless spill out. We run away, hoping to find a safe place. The heartless clones are right on our heels, I can almost feel their incoming attack.

"Guys, up here!" Peter Pan calls out. He's at the ceiling a few yards away. Near a trapdoor! I've never been so happy to see a hole in the roof! Peter flies by and grabs Goofy to bring him up. Meanwhile, Donald, Sora, and I try to hold them off.

"Blizzaga!" Donald yells, casting a layer of ice over the hallway. The ice manages to wall us off from the heartless, but seems to be cracking. Fast!

Time to use a new spell! "Gravira!" Sora and I shout simultaneously. A dark orb appears around the first wave of heartless the moment they break through the ice wall. It pins them to the ground, stopping their advance.

While we have a chance, Peter flies off with Donald to the trapdoor. Now it's just me and Sora. The gravira spell wears off, so we cast more. "Thundaga!"

"Firaga!" Accidentally, the spells collide, but instead of canceling each other out, the lightning creates a cage around the fireball. The attack plows into the heartless, shocking and burning them at the same time. I suspect it has even more power than if they were seperate.

Finally, Peter comes for Sora and lifts him away. It's down to me! I fling various spells at the heartless, but they keep advancing. "Blizzaga!" I yell. I feel the familiar chill run through my body, but it stops at my fingers. I must be out of magic!

Realizing my distress, one heartless leaps straight at me. Ironically, it's one that looks like me. As it closes in, I remember one thing I have left. I pull out the red summon stone stone. "I hope this works!" The world around me turns completely black and everything disappears except for me and the stone.

I hold the small gem into the air and an aura of light appears at my feet. It rises up in thin beams of swirling light before combining above my head. Out of the bright light that follows, comes a small, square shaped robot. It's very rusty and it's head is just a pair of binoculars on a short neck. For feet, it has all-terrain treads on each side.

It holds out its three-fingered hand. "Wall-E." It says. I assume that's his name. I shake his hand.

"Let's do this!" The world turns back to normal and Wall-E and I immediately goes into action. His square body opens up as he rolls around the crowd of heartless. Impossible amounts of them are stuffed inside of his body. When he is full, the hatch shuts and Wall-E shakes wildly. His torso opens up once more and a compressed cube of darkness falls out. It quickly evaporates while Wall-E goes on to compress more.

We fight together until Peter Pan grabs me and flies off. Wall-E stops fighting and starts to glow. He soon disappears in a red light and he shrinks down, returning into a small ruby. It then flies right into my packet.

Peter flies up into the trap door and we slam it closed behind us. "I'm never fighting one of those again!" I pant heavily. That fight took a lot out of me! I look around to see we're in a large cabin. Two bunks are on either side of the room and a desk sits in the middle.

"Is this the captain's bunk?" Sora questions.

"Yes, but we have a problem!" Peter warns. I turn and see the heartless had apparently stopped trying to break open the trapdoor. Instead, they've turned back into darkness and are flowing in through the floorboards.

"This can't end well," Goofy says, stepping back. The darkness condenses into two spots, gradually becoming larger. In a few seconds, it has become two detailed clones of Sora and I, Keyblades and all. Curiously, they are holding Kingdom Key and Light's Power instead of the ones we hold now. Donald, Goofy, and Peter try to come to our aid, but a wall of darkness separates us from them.

"Is it just me, or do those clones stronger than the rest?" Sora asks nervously.

"They're stronger!" I say. Now would be a good time to try out that Keychain Kairi gave me! I summon Cloaked Light and hook the new Keychain on. In a flash of light, it changes.

It is now mostly white, with the exception of the tip of the blade, which is a bright red. The yellow guard and hilt resemble that of an ornate rapier's. From each side of the white, thin blade, a light blue thing shaped like a crescent moon emerges. Each supports three short yellow. Along the blade are two spirals, one yellow and one white.

_Rising Sun._ Wasting no time, I attack the heartless resembling me. Sora goes after the one that looks like him. I swing Rising Sun down upon my doppelgänger, but it expertly blocks my attack with the same amount of power. We both push as hard as we can, but we're too equal.

I leap back at the same time my copy does, each of us pausing for a second to find a weakness in the other. A quick glance confirms that Sora is having the same problem. I am forced to return my attention to my battle when the heartless attacks once more. I barely block the attack with _Rising Sun_. A jarring shudder runs through my body.

I continue to press on, but eventually, my muscles ache from the intense fight. Wait… If physical attacks won't work, then how about magical ones! "Try and beat my spells then! Firaga!" As soon as I cast the spell, Dark-Kaze sends out a darkened for firaga as well. The two spells collide in the air, creating a large explosion.

I am thrown violently against the wall along with anyone else nearby. Luckily, instead of hitting the ground, I landed on a bed. Dark-Kaze was not as lucky, however. It stands up, looking extremely angry for a thing with only eyes for facial features.

It raises its darkened _Light's Power i_nto the air and my hair stands on end. Lightning! I dive out of the way just as a humongous bolt of black lightning strikes right where I was standing.

How am I going to beat this guy? It can counter all of my attacks with equal power. It doesn't seem to get tired, though. I'll pass out from exhaustion long before that thing does, but I can't lose now! Kairi needs us!

At that thought, _Rising Sun _glows with a bright energy."_Light… magic_" comes Vanitas's voice. I narrow my eyes in determination. If regular magic can't beat him, then I'll use light!

I focus on the happy things in my life, drawing out the light. Sword fights on the island, playing video games with Sora, the secret cave, and most of all, hanging out with my friends. The light from my Keyblade grows stronger and brighter, forming a large orb around me,

"You're finished!" In one quick burst, I direct my light onto the Dark-Kaze. The light envelops it and I can see it be destroyed, evaporating into darkness.

Sora has too destroyed his clone. Instead of using a magic attack, his Kayblade was cloaked in light as he swung _Kingdom Ke_y straight through Dark-Sora. In a flash, the barrier preventing our friends from helping disappears.

"Good job destroying those heartless," Peter says. "I could have done it better, of course."

"Sure," I say laughing, "but we have to keep going. Wendy and Kairi are around here somewhere!"

"There's only one place left." Peter Pan says, "Hook must be on the deck."

"Then let's go!" Sora says. "Kairi isn't getting any help while we're here!" We open the door at the front of the cabin, ready to face whatever awaited us.

* * *

RAVEN

* * *

This city is too wet. The rain seems to show no signs of stopping. It has been an endless downpour sonde I arrived here. Even worse, I'd way too dark. I almost tripped like, five times!

For the hundredth time in the lat few days, I run my finger over the new scar I recently received. "Would you stop that?" A monotone voice from the shadows says. "It is just a scar."

"Easy for you to say. You have an X-shaped one over your face!" The speaker steps out of the shadows. As I thought, it was Saïx, the most emotionless person I've ever known.

"Which is exactly why it should be easy for you to ignore."

"You're used to it…" I mumble. Saïx opens a corridor of darkness.

"Come. I must bring you to the Superior." Saïx walks through and I follow wordlessly. I already know who the Superior is and why he wants to see me. In fact, what I'm about to do is so bad, the guys probably wouldn't want to see me again. Then again, I've already betrayed them.

-Flashback-

"_Raven, what are you doing?" Matt asked. He looked frighteningly at the Keyblade held by a person he once knew as a friend._

_"You'll understand someday." It hurt to do this, but I had no other choice. I began to swing the Keyblade down upon him, but a small fireball blasts me in the back._

_"Raven, you don't have to do this!" Yen said in a normal voice. I turned to face him. He held his Keyblade firmly, but I could see he was scared. Scared to attack his former friend. "We can help you with whatever this is."_

_"You two will never understand!" They never will understand what's going on. What it's like to have no memories of most of your life. To only have half a heart._

_"Maybe we won't understand, but you're going about this the wrong way!" Matt slashed his Keyblade as I turned to face him. I sharp stinging sensation ran through my cheek._

_He attacked..._

_"You have done well, Raven." A new voice said. Before anyone could do anything, a Corridor of Darkness opened under my feet. Before I went under, the last thing I heard was Yen._

_"Raven, why?"_

-flashback end-

"You aren't still thinking about those meaningless children are you?" Saïx says, bringing me back to the present. "When you've done your part, you won't need any memories of those three. You'll remember your true friends." A brief flash of a memory runs through my mind.

_Two boys about 15 years old. One with long blue hair, and the other spikes red. "Come on, Raven!" The red haired one yells before the memory fades._

I find myself on the ground, clutching my head in pain. "What was that?" I moan.

"Your memories."


	33. Captain Hook

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Kingdom Hearts. Or do I? JK, I don't.**

* * *

That plan failed. Epically. All we did was charge in, so I'm not really surprised. We were surrounded by heartless and a strange looking pirate. Peter said he's Captain Hook. Long story short, we all have to walk the plank. In hindsight, this wasn't a very good plan. Sora is up first. As Sora stands on the end of the wooden plank on the edge of the ship, my heart pounds. This is not the way I want any of us to die. "Step off already, Laddy!" Hook shouts. "You're friends are next!" Captain Hook looks down over the edge and screams girlishly. "It's that crocodile!" Great, now we'll be eaten by a croc **and **sharks!

"Remember Sora," Peter Pan shouts. "You have to believe!

Sora smiles bravely. "See ya later, guys." Time seems to slow down as he jumps backward into the water.

"Sora!" We all scream, but we're tied up and can't do anything. Seconds pass and we look down sadly.

"Alright, who wants to go next?" Hook asks cruelly. Suddenly, a figure shoots up into the sky, a trail of golden sparkles following it.

"I knew he could do it!" Peter cheers. Wait, that's… no it can't be… Sora! I'm right! Sora flies into veiw with the _Kingdom Key_in hand. He flies by us and with a few quick swipes, we're all free! Peter flies up and sets after an enraged Captain Hook leaving the rest of us behind.

"Sora," Goofy asks, "how are you flying?"

"Like Peter Pan said, You just have to believe you can."

"I... believe you." The next thing I know, I'm floating above the ground. Donald and Goofy soon follow suit. "Let's get him!"

"Stay back, all of you!" Hook screams. "Help me!" At least a dozen heartless appear and surround us at Hook's word. "Smee, protect me!" A portly man wearing a blue and white striped shirt runs after Hook into his quarters.

"Coming Captain!" He yells.

"Okay then. Heartless first." Sora says. The rest of us summon our weapons and we fly off into battle.

The first ones up are a group of flying heartless that look a lot like small ships. I fly toward a small group and shoot a blast of fire at the sails. One of them starts to go down, but they all fire the cannons! I manage to dodge most of them, but one connects with my stomach and I go flying back.

I spin wildly through the air until I manage to grab hold of the mast. In a few seconds, I'm ready to fight again.

"Freeze!" I summon a large icicle and shoot it at the heartless. They instantly freeze and fall the the deck where they shatter and fade away. I look down and notice Donald and Goofy are fending off a hoard of sword wielding heartless. (I really wish Yen was here to give us some info on them...) I fly down with _Rising Sun_ held out, destroying most heartless on contact.

Without much trouble, we destroy all of the heartless on the ship. We turn our attention to the Captain's Quarters where Hook is hiding. For some reason, Smee sits cowering in front of the door. "That makes things a lot easier!" Peter Pan says. He holds his nose and speaks in a nasally voice, imitating Smee. "Captain! Those kids are gone, the heartless got 'em!"

Hook bursts out of the door, hitting Smee in the face. "Seriously? Those scallywags are history?"

"Think again, Hook!" I taunt. He lets out another girlish scream, but instead of running, Hook draws a large sword.

"Prepare to perish, ladies!" Captain Hook runs forward insanely, swinging his sword wildly. We all fly upward to evade, but he jumps extremely high into the air, slashing me with the sword. I fall to the deck of the ship painfully, and Hook attacks once more. When he finishes and moves on to the others, I can barely stand. Using _Rising Sun_ to balance myself, I cast cura.

With my wounds healed, I rejoin the battle. Surprisingly, the others aren't doing so well either. We all thought Hook would be a pushover due to his cowardice, but his erratic fighting is too hard for us to dodge. And how is he jumping that high? I begin to fly in to help, but an idea comes to me. He was afraid of that croc before, so maybe we can scare him into losing!

"Hey, Hook!" I yell, flying in front of him. "Try and get me!"

"Why you little-" Hook chases after me and I barely escape his wild swings. I reach the edge of the ship and Hook almost runs straight off, but stands balancing on the side. I see the crocodile looking up hungrily and push Captain Hook off the side.

"Kaze! How could you just push him off a ship!" Sora cries.

"Wait for it. 3...2...1!" With a loud yelp, Hook comes flying over the side of the ship. "Get him!" In his panic, Captain Hook was left wide open, so it was easy for all of us to get a few attacks in. He recovered soon, unfortunately.

"Heartless!" He yells. The ship-like heartless appear and surround our group, blocking Hook off from us.

I growl in annoyance. "That spineless jellyfish!" Everyone stares at me for uttering that pirate-reminiscent phrase. "We have bigger issues than my vocabulary, you know!"

"Right." Sora says. "Donald, Goofy, we're going after Hook! Kaze, you and Peter take on the heartless!" Since when is Sora capable of planning? I don't argue, though and set after the heartless.

In no time at all, we defeat every heartless, but more come to take there place. Again and again, more heartless come to take there place. Luckily, Sora, Donald, and Goofy defeat Hook as Peter and I destroy the heartless. This time, no more appear.

We walk over to the defeated form of Captain Hook. "Okay Hook!" Peter demands. "Where's Wendy?"

"She's right here!" someone says. It's a voice I know all too well. Riku.

We all turn to see Riku standing next to two girls. One is standing and in a blue dress. I assume she's Wendy. "Take her, she isn't who we're looking for." Wendy runs to us and Peter embraces her in a hug. The other is Kairi, still in a comatose state.

"Then what about Kairi? We can help her too, Riku!" I say.

"Yeah, right! You can't help Kairi. Only I can."A Corridor of Darkness flows around him and Kairi, but before we can reach them, they're gone. As a matter of fact, so is Captain Hook. I can see him and Smee riding away into the night on a small life boat.

"Don't worry about him." Peter says. "He'll get what's coming to him. In fact..."

"IT'S COMING SMEE! ROW FASTER!" I can hear Hook scream.

"Come on, Wendy, let's take you home."

* * *

**Raven**

* * *

"That's your master plan?" I ask. "It seems a little ridiculous to me."

"Believe me, Raven." Xemnas says, emotionless. "To reclaim our lost hearts, Kingdom Hearts must be completed. You too, need this I see."

"Shut up. At least I have half of one."

"The half missing your memories of home." No retort for this.

"Fine, so what do you want me to to?"

"Wait for now. When the time comes, your mission is the same as before. Bring us Kaze."

* * *

**Sorry for taking so long to update. My brother hogged the computer for forever!**


	34. Riku

**Disclaimer: I do not own the KH franchise. **

* * *

"This is it," Sora says. "Hollow Bastion." This world gives me the chills. It's as if something bad happened here, and I'm picking up on it. The dreary castle in the distance isn't exactly helping the image either. In front of us are a straight line of floating stones that lead to a large outcropping of rock in front of the castle.

In preparation for what's about to come, Sora exchanged _Kingdom Key_ for a silver Keblade resembling Leon's necklace: _Sleeping Lion_.

"Now we can finally find Kairi." I add.

"_Finally, I thought you'd never get here_." Vanitas says.

"Look who's back." I silently say.

"_Hey, I couldn't talk to you because of all the darkness in that world!"_

I ignore him. "Ready to go, guys?"

"Let's go!" Donald, Goofy, and Sora all say.

We hop from rock to rock, fighting the heartless that appear. I now realize that we're over a large, but calm waterfall. On the second to last stone, we all notice a battle going on with surprise. A large, hairy creature wearing a violet cape against… Riku!

"No vessel, no help from the Heartless... So tell me, how'd you get here?" Riku says.

"I simply believed. Nothing more to it. When our world fell into darkness, Belle was taken from me." The monster says." I vowed I would find her again no matter what the cost. I believed I would find her. So, here I am. She must be here. I will have her back!"

"Take her if you can." The monster tries to attack in a blind fury, but Riku easily counters, striking him down. The four of us stare, horrified at the sight.

"Stop!" Sora shouts. Riku turns to us.

"So, you finally made it. About time. I've been waiting for you. We've always been rivals, haven't we? We've always pushed eachother."

"Riku... What are you talking about?"

"But it all ends here. There can't be three Keyblade masters

"I have a bad feeling about this!" Goofy warns.

"Let the Keyblade choose...its true master." Riku holds out his hand. Simultaneously, Rising Sun and Sleeping Lion disappear from our hands and transform into two orbs of light. They swirl around eachother before merging in Riku's hand. As one Kingdom Key.

"What!" Donald shouts.

"Huh?" Goofy gasps..

Riku gains a sly smile. "Maleficent was right. You don't have what it takes to save Kairi. It's up to me. Only the Keyblade master can open the secret door...and change the world." Riku's words blur in my head as I sink to the ground.

You don't have what it takes… Keyblade Master… Change the world.

"But that's impossible. How did this happen? We're the one who fought our way here with the Keyblade!" Sora cries.

"You were just the delivery boys. Sorry, your part's over now. Here, go play hero with this." Riku tosses our old Wooden Swords to the ground next to us and leaves. Sora kneels to the ground in disappointment.

"Goofy. Let's go. We have to remember our mission." Donald says.

"Oh! Well, I know the king told us to follow the key and all... But..."

"Sora, Kaze, sorry." Donald and Goofy leave sadly with one last look back at us.

"How could this have happened. It doesn't make any sense!" I mumble to myself. Out of the corner of my eye, I notice the creature from before move slightly. He tries to stand, but falls down almost immediately.

"Hey, don't move. You're hurt." Sora cautions.

"Why... Why did you...you come here?" The monster says. "I came to fight for Belle. And though I am on my own, I will fight. I won't leave without her. That's why I'm here."

Sora picks up the Wooden Sword and I do the same, as it is better than having no weapon. I hand the creature a high potion and after downing it, looks better than ever.

"Me too. We're not gonna give up now. I came here to find someone very important to me."

"And we're not giving up until we find her!"

"Let's go together, then. My name is Beast."

"Sora."

"Kaze." I look the way Riku headed. A large platform held up by strings of electricity floats there next to a large orb. Without a second thought, Sora touches it and we are immediately teleported onto the platform. It starts up and we are soon headed for the castle.

* * *

Needless to say, heartless are almost impossible to kill with a toy sword. Without our Keyblades, Sora and I are nearly helpless. I know, sad, right? Luckily, Beast is able to pick up the slack with his claws.

We eventually made our way to the front doors of the castle, but they were locked tight, so went to find a way to open them. A long puzzle later, the doors swung open and led into the front hall. A small fountain sat in front of the stairs.

A door opens near the side of the room to reveal a familiar woman in a yellow dress. I recognize her from that dream I had on the islands. How long ago that feels now.

"Belle!" Beast shouts in surprise. He runs after her, but the image of her fades and becomes a shadow heartless. Overcome with rage, Beast destroys the heartless, but not before the door slams shut on him.

"Beast!"

"Quit while you can." Riku says, suddenly appearing. Donald and Goofy stand by his side.

"No. Not without Kairi." Sora answers. Surprisingly, darkness begins to cloak Riku. It swirls violently around him, and when it clears, Riku looks drastically different.

He now wears a black and blue body suit made of darkness. It looks practically identical to Vanitas's.

"The darkness will destroy you." He says.

"You're wrong, Riku. The darkness may destroy my body, but it can't  
touch my heart. My heart will stay with my friends. It'll never die!" I say.

"Really... Well, we'll just see about that!"

An intense pain fills my body and judging by Sora's expression, he feels it too. I realize neither of us can move, but no matter how much we struggle neither of us can escape this power.

Riku extends both hands and a cloud of darkness forms in each. Two bolts of darkness fire from his hand. I close my eyes, awaiting the end, but nothing happens.

I slowly reopen my eyes to see Goofy standing in front of Sora. Shocking us all, Matt stands in front of me, Keyblade out. They blocked the shot and saved us!

"Looks like we got here just in time!" Matt says with a smile.

"We would have been here sooner, but Matt kept reading the map wrong!" Yen whispers, walking in the now open front doors. Beast is nowhere to be seen.

"Sora and Kaze aren't gonna go anywhere!"

"You'd betray your king?" Riku asks.

"Not on your life! But I'm not gonna betray Sora, either, 'cause he's become one of my best buddies after all we've been through together! See ya later, Donald. Could ya tell the king I'm really sorry?"

Donald runs over to us. "Hold on, Goofy! We'll tell him together." We look at him surprised and he says, "Well, you know... All for one and one for all."

"I guess you're stuck with us, Sora."

Strangely, Sora looks down in disappointment. "Thanks a lot...Donald, Goofy."

"How will you fight without a weapon?" Riku taunts.

"I know now I don't need the Keyblade. I've got a better weapon. My  
heart."

"Your heart? What good will that weak little thing do for you?"

"Although my heart may be weak, it's not alone. It's grown with  
each new experience, and it's found a home with all the friends I've  
made. I've become a part of their heart just as they've become a part of  
mine."

I jump in. "And if they think of us now and then...if they don't forget us...then our hearts will be one. I don't need a weapon. Our friends are our power!" At that moment, I felt my heart grow stronger.

The _Kingdom Key_ appears in Riku's hand and turns back into the two lights. They flow back into Sora's and my hands, becoming _Sleeping Lion_ and _Rising Sun_.

"How did you… Forget it! I have my own weapon!" Riku summons an imposing weapon to fight, but I'm not afraid. We can take him now. Together.


	35. Chapter 35

**I don't own Kingdom Hearts. Just a *cough* few *cough* copies of the games.**

* * *

I dash toward Riku holding Rising Sun high. I swing but Riku blocks and attacks with fast but powerful strikes. I fall back from the force of his strikes and Sora goes in with Matt. Still preoccupied with me, Riku couldn't block them in time. Matt lands a few hits before Riku leaps back.

Donald casts aero on all of us at the perfect time. Although Riku's attacks still hurt, the shield of wind protects me from the full force of his attacks. Soon, the shield wears out and Riku slashes his sword. The attack is especially powerful and strikes my shoulder. I hold back a scream as pain arcs down my arm.

Seeing me on the ground, Riku moves on to the next combatant.

I stand and chug down a hi-potion. I soo discover my arm is dislocated. The pain flares when my arm bones rearrange themselves, but it quickly fades. The red mark doesn't go away. "That's going to bruise," I groan. I guess potion's only deal with the most serious injury.

"Firaga!" I shout. A relatively large fireball hurtles toward Riku but he counters with a fireball made of darkness. The two attacks collide and detonate. The room fills with smoke for a brief time.

"How did he do that without saying anything?" I grumble.

"You don't actually need to say a spell out loud to use it," Yen whispers. "It just takes more out of you." That could come in handy later. Sora seems to have heard Yen as well.

Sora ties to swing down on Riku's head, but he blocks expertly. Riku and Sora press against each other, neither of them getting the upper hand. Suddenly, Sora smirks. "See ya!" I see a flash of electricity race down Sleeping Lion and into Riku's sword. His eyes widen in surprise as the electricity pulses through his body.

A burning smell fills the air. Riku looks even angrier than I've ever seen him. "It's going to take more than that to defeat me!"

We continued to fight. Throughout the battle, Riku casts more powerful, dark versions of magic. Even with all of us working together, Riku was still too powerful to take down. One by one, he managed to defeat us until it was just me and Sora.

"It looks like your friends couldn't save you this time." Riku taunts. Ugh! He barely broke a sweat. Meanwhile, we're breathing and sweating heavily. There's something weird going on here. Wait...

The outfit made of darkness...

The dark variations of magic...

"He's using the darkness to beat us!" I tell Sora

"Well, obviously!" Riku says. "You two are lot dumber than I thought!"

Sora grins. "Which means we have to use light!"

"Way ahead of you!" The attack I used in Twilight Town comes to mind. "Light Burst!"

"Light Raid!"

_Rising Sun_ becomes imbued with light. _Sleeping Lion_ does the same. Now that I have more control over this attack, it feels more natural. The impossibly fast strikes are amplified in power by the light.

Sora helps as well, chucking his Keyblade repeatedly at Riku.

As the attacks end, Riku slumps to the ground, defeated. The dark outfit fades away in wisps of darkness.

"No, this can't… I won't let it happen!" Riku cries.

"It's over Riku. We don't have to fight." I reach my hand out to help him up, but I suddenly stop.

A familiar robed figure materializes from the shadows. All three of us are surprised. "You!" Riku knows him?

His voice, if it can be called that, reverberates through my mind. It is obviously telepathy, but sounds real. "Yes, Riku. You are correct. It can't end this way. All you have to do is fully accept the darkness."

An evil grin spreads across Riku's face. He can't be considering this, can he? I try to speak, but no sound emerges. Could this be his doing?

"These two beat you because their hearts were stronger, but with me, you can be more powerful than them. Kaze here may have a lot of darkness, but not nearly enough to unlock it's true power." Sora stares at me in shock. I hang my head in shame. "Together with the darkness, we could rule all of the worlds. Kairi could be saved as well."

That was all it took. As if on cue, the robed figure disappeared into a dark cloud. The darkness flowed into Riku, creating the dark armor around him once more. His eyes changed from blue to amber an he laughed evilly.

"So this is the true power of darkness!" His voice shocks me. Riku's voice mixed with the hooded man's. He turns to us. "Sorry guys, but I have other things to take care of before you."

Finally finding my voice I say, "Riku, no!"

"That guy is not someone you can trust!"

"He was there when the islands were destroyed!"

"Goodbye, Sora and Kaze." Riku's palm turns a pitch black, darker than I've ever seen. Before we can run, he fires and everything quickly goes black.

* * *

Falling through darkness again...

(This happens a lot, doesn't it?) I land on the stained glass pillar once more. I quick look at the picture startles me. It no longer show me, but Vanitas and some boy I don't know. The two face each other, each surround by a different background split at the middle.

The other boy has his eyes closed. He has windswept golden blond hair. In his hand is a Keyblade I've never seen before, yet it feels so… familiar.

"So, you found your way here." Vanitas says, appearing suddenly. He's wearing his mask, so it's not too weird.

"This is your heart, isn't it?"

"Looks like your not as dumb as you seem."

"Why is your heart in mine?"

"The question we've all been waiting for!" Vanitas says sarcastically. "If you must know, you let me in. Your pure heart was too kind to turn me away."

"Like I would ever do that! All you are is darkness!" I could even sense waves of darkness coming off of him.

"Well, maybe that's not all true, but I think it's time for you to wake up. See ya!"

"Wait, I need to know!" I try to run after Vanitas, but my legs will barely move. The mask fades and he grins cruelly right before I look down. To my horror, a puddle of darkness had appeared and is sucking me in. I try to pull my legs out, but the stuff is like quicksand.

Soon my arms get stuck, than my chest.

I scream in frustration as the blackness goes over my head. The last thing I hear is Vanitas's insane laugh.

* * *

I awake suddenly. In a brief panic, I flail around like I'm still in the darkness. Luckily, I'm on the floor. I try to sit up, but a burst of pain erupts from my skull. "Ugh, my head…"

"You're finally awake." That voice is unmistakable. The overlap is too obvious. But is it just me or is the hooded guy's voice more audible than before? I sit up more slowly. I seem to be in the middle of a strange stage. A giant heartless symbol is embedded in the wall a few yards away. I can feel cold, clammy, waves of darkness emanating from it. Machinery is all over. Riku stands in front of me. I try to run forward, but a multicolored barrier flashes in front of me and I fall back.

"Why did you bring me here? Where is everyone else?"

"Looking for you of course. You're only here because someone else wants to deal with you." I really hope that doesn't mean who I think.

"Who?" Riku turns around toward the heartless symbol on the wall. When he speaks this time, I can barely hear Riku's voice. "Now, Princesses of Heart, show us your true power!"

The symbol lights up, filling with many different colors. Six beams of light shoot into it. Where did those come from. I turn around, and gasp in horror. Six women sleep encased within separate containers in the wall. The light is coming from their chests. Their hearts! Three of the women look really familiar for some reason.

"It is time!" Something starts to appear in Riku's hand. First a faint outline, but it starts to appear more and more with every second. Soon, a weapon sits in Riku's hand. The handle and guard are red, and the blade is pitch black. The top of it looks like a half heart. A Keyblade!

"What are you planning?"

"You're still here? I thought you were with the others." Riku snaps his fingers and a corridor of darkness appears under me. I fall straight down for what feels like forever until I land flat on the ground.

"I'd appreciate a softer landing!" I yell to no one in particular.

I suddenly hear a deep voice. "So, you have arrived." It can't be… could it?" I turn, fearing the worst. Just as I thought, an Organization Member stands there. He takes off his hood to reveal long grey hair and stern gold eyes.

"You again!" I can't believe I'm seeing this guy again. How am I going to beat this guy without my friends. We lost badly last time!

"I assume you think I am going to fight you." How did he know that? "You are sadly mistaken. Number XIII!" A man with bright red hair steps from the shadows. Hi hair is spiked all over and two green teardrop tattoos are under his eyes.

"This is all I have to do? Give me something better, boss!"

"Just do away with him, XIII." I summon _Rising Sun_ and prepare for battle.


	36. Axel

**Your reward for waiting this long is an extra long chapter! (Insert cheering) Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer- I claim no ownership of the KH franchise.**

* * *

I finally get a good look at my location while the red-haired man paces the perimeter of the room. The chamber seems to be made of a the roots of a gigantic plant! Roots as thick as a tree snake around the edge, sometimes venturing to the middle. Actually, this place almost looks like it was a once beautiful room.

So absorbed in the architecture as I was, the man's voice startles me. "So, another aspiring Keyblade master." I turn to face him.

What does he mean by another? There's no way he could be talking about anyone I know. Yen said there were only a handful left in the universe. "What are you talking about?"

A sly smile creeps onto his face. "The name's Axel, got it memorized?" He says. What is with this guy? "Now, let's get started!"

Axel snaps open his palms and a ring of fire appears in both of his hands. A crackling sound fills the air as two flame colored chakrams appear in Axel's hands. "What do ya say we heat things up a little?"

A ring of flames leap up from the ground, trapping me with Axel. The only way out must be to defeat him. I grip _Rising Sun_ tighter. Then that's what I'll do!

I rush at Axel, but he just gives me another sly grin. "Now that's what I like to see!" Before I can reach him, Axel chucks a flaming chakram at me. I block it with _Rising Sun_, but the impact jars my entire body and flames wash over me.

When I look again, Axel is behind me. Using his chakrams as a melee weapon, he attacks fiercely. Defenseless, I fall to the full force of his attacks. Axel falters for a moment and I stand shakily onto my feet.

"Don't tell me you're giving up already?" Is this guy just playing with me? If he is, there's no way I'm letting him win!

"Heal!" I shout. A green light of a curaga envelops me and heals my bruises and injuries instantly. Time to get this show on the road! First things first, I need to cool this guy off!

"Deep Freeze!" I shout. I focus all of my magic into this attack. Ice, ice, ice! With painstaking effort, I create a large ball of ice and center it over Axel's head.

"What was that supposed to do?" Axel laughs. "Are you making snow cones?" I give him one of his own grins when he realizes my plan. The intensified heat burned straight through the ice, right onto Axel!

All of the flames suddenly die down as Axel himself coughs and sputters from the sudden downpour. Just enough time to escape! I run from the original wall of flame and look for an exit. There doesn't seem to be one, though! I settle for hiding behind a large root and waiting for Axel to leave.

"I know you're around here somewhere!" I hear Axel shout. The sound reverberates throughout the chapel. I flatten myself against the ground. I hope he doesn't see me!

"I was hoping it wouldn't come to this!" Axel sighs. "Burn, Baby!" A searing heat engulfs the room. Even the wall are starting to glow red! I suddenly feel a burning sensation in my feet. I gasp at the sight. The floor turned to hot coals!

I jump up screaming in pain. "Hot, hot, hot!" Unfortunately, that alerted Axel to my presence.

"There you are!" The area beneath me heats up even more, so I hop up onto the root nearby. I cast a blizzard spell onto my feet to keep them from burning up. I feel pretty good about this plan, actually.

"Now what, Axel?" I taunt. I launch blizzard after blizzard at the pyro from my high perch. The room cools down the more distracted he is by the ice. Sadly, I run out of magic before long. He seems hurt, but not enough to stop fighting!

He grins deviously. "Don't tell me I didn't warn you!" When did he warn me? He raises his hands into the air and glows with a red aura and the temperature rises higher than ever before. I can see the heat materialize in waves!

I can feel my clothes damp with sweat, but he's not done yet. A volley of fireballs narrowly miss my head, instead hitting a root behind me. It bursts into flame and I start running. The root I'm on catches fire as I run up. Before long, the blaze is licking at my heels.

All the while, Axel keeps hurling fireball at me. One manages to hit an I almost fall off the root. But the danger of approaching flames spurs me on and I keep running.

Not long after that specific incident, I reach the top o the root. I back up against the wall and watch the flames get precariously close. I look down and see that the floor looks like molten lava now! Even if I got down there, I still burn from the either fire! So this is how it's going to end.

The flames grow ever nearer but a thought surfaces. Maybe one that coup save me. I lift _Rising Sun_ high. I feel the magic coursing through me as a bright light shine from within my Keyblade. "Tinker Bell!"

I find myself in the same dark nothingness where I met Wall•E. The heat immediately disappears and I sigh in relief. Soon enough, a bright ball of light flies around me. I soon recognize it as Tinker Bell.

"Ready to help?" I ask. She nods and the fight flashes back as if nothing had happened. But one thing is different. I have a friend.

I dive from my perch to the surprise of Axel. "What!" Tinker Bell swirls around me, sprinkling Pixie dust all over. At the last second, I pull up and fly straight toward Axel with _Rising Sun_ pointed straight at him.

The Keyblade jabs him hard in he stomach. (It's not like I actually wanted to impale him.) I drive Axel into the wall and smash him into it. Immediately, he flames die down and the room becomes hospitable. I sigh in relief. He's finally defeated.

"We'll done, kid." Axel suddenly says. Surprised, I leap away. _Rising Sun_ flashes back into my hand. Axel stands from the hole in the wall. He looks remotely beat up, but relatively fine. But how?

Axel holds his palms out in surrender. "Relax. I'm done here. My job is finished. Now I'm out of here." A corridor of darkness envelops Axel and he disappears from view. He's a hard guy to figure out.

I quickly heal a majority of my burns and search for a way out. As if answering my wishes and fears, Riku appears. He is annoyed.

"I thought they were supposed to finish you off for me!" He growls. I can hear even less of Riku now. I need to help him before it's too late!

"Riku, I know you're in there! Just fight the darkness!"

His voice chills me to the bone. "You fool." Riku chuckles to himself. "You just can't stop seeing the light in everyone. Even when it's gone forever. In any case, this should take care of you."

Riku holds out his palm cloaked in darkness. In a flash, I find myself floating a few feet above the ground. A quick check confirms that Riku is using the same technique he used in our fight earlier. Only this time, it's a thousand times more powerful! A crushing feeling presses against my entire body and I moan.

I try to move my arm to summon the Keyblade, but I still can't move a muscle. Not as if I expected any results. Maybe I can work some light magic on this...

I close my eyes and focus on all of the good things I can recall. The light wells up, but I can't release it at all. Either I'm out of magic or Riku is stronger than I thought.

All of a sudden, the crushing force increases. I feel like I'm going to explode! "Wha- What are you doing!" I manage to wheeze.

"What needs to be done." The force finally releases me, but sharp pain goes through my chest, quickly replacing it for _Agony of The Week_. I drop to the floor and curl up where I lay. "Have fun in the Realm of Darkness!" Riku says. I think he leaves, but nothing really gets through the pain.

All I can feel is the pain coursing through my body. A weak groan escapes my lips when I attempt to move. I think I lay there for twenty minutes before I could gather the strength to stand. I try casting a cure spell, but it only slightly eases the pain. I need to get out of here!

I stumble toward a portal, not really caring where it came from. All I know is that it's a way out.

The exit of the portal is a large chapel, it looks just as ruined as the last room I was in. What could have happened to this world?

Nearby, an ornate door stands. I stagger toward it, but as soon as I open it, I collapse. Well, someone will find me here. My eyes close and I pass out.

*****Kingdom Hearts*****

"Wake up, Kaze!" A voice says. It sounds distant and muffled, but familiar. "I said wake up!" A sharp sound and pain flashes on my cheek and I jerk awake. Standing over me is Yen. "You're awake! I was afraid I'd have to use a thunder spell!" He whispers.

"Yeah, I'm awake." I try to stand, but the pain in my chest returns and I fall forward. Luckily, Yen catches me.

"Are you alright?"

"Not really, Riku did something to me. Something not even a Curaga can fix."

"That's harsh. Just relax for a while until everyone comes back. I'm sure Donald will know what to do."

The next twenty minutes went by strangely. I drifted in and out of consciousness frequently, having strange dreams. I didn't remember any details though. Just a general feeling of fear.

After a while, Sora, Donald, Beast, Goofy, and Matt walked out of the same portal I did and ran over to me. "Donald, don't you have a spell for this?" Sora asks, worried.

"I don't even know what's wrong with him. We need to get back to Traverse Town!"

I stop the conversation right there. "We can't go back now! We have too many important things to do!" Surprised, everyone marvels at my outburst.

"He's right, guys." Matt says. "We can't just stop now."

"Then let's go save all of the worlds!" Goofy cheers.

"Right!" We all say. Everyone charges through the door (albeit I was a lot slower) into whatever awaited us.

Inside, a familiar room awaited us. The same one with all the women seemingly asleep. Where I was trapped before, I see Kairi's body on the ground. Riku stands before her, staring into the enormous heartless symbol.

Sora suddenly runs up the stairs to Kairi. Donald and Goofy follow, but as soon as Donald and Sora go through, a barrier flashes behind them. Goofy slams into it and the rest of us come to his aid.

"The Keyhole cannot be completed so as long as the last princess of heart still sleeps." Riku suddenly says, still turned around. Oh no! I can't even hear Riku now! He's gone, under someone else's control. "The princess...?" I say aloud.

"Kairi's a princess?" Sora says.

Riku turns around and begins to float a foot or two off of the ground. "Yes, and without her power, the Keyhole will remain incomplete. It is time she awakened." Sora seems to have noticed the change in Riku as well. He summons _Sleeping Lion_.

"Whoever you are, let Riku go! Give him back his heart!"

"But first, you must give the princess back her heart." Sora suddenly gasps and falls to his knees. I see a flash of light come from his chest. Everyone stares in confusion. What is going on here?

"Sora!" Donald shouts

"What's-" Sora wheezes.

"Don't you see yet?" Riku says. "The princess's heart is responding. It has been there all along. Kairi's heart rests within you!" What! "Kairi... Kairi's inside me?"

"I know all that there is to know." Riku says. Now I know it's not Riku.

Sora finally asks the question all of us wanted the answer to. "Tell me. Who are you?"

"It is I, Ansem, the Seeker of Darkness." Ansem? As in the King of Leon's home world. At least that explains where he's been all this time.

Quite suddenly, Donald runs at Riku to try and attack, but he is simply smacked aside, outside of the barrier! Now Sora's in there all alone!

"So, I shall release you now, Princess. Complete the Keyhole with your power. Open the door, lead me into everlasting darkness!" Ansem starts to swing his Keyblade down upon Sora. Powerless to help, the rest of us simply stand and watch in horror. I thought what I went through was bad, but it seems Ansem has full intent to kill Sora while he's defenseless.

**Clang!**

A flash of light blinds us, but when it clears, Sora stands there, blocking Ansem's attack! Yes! "Forget it!" Sora growls, "There's no way you're taking Kairi's heart!"

"So be it!" Ansem's body glows with darkness and he dashes past Sora at an incredibly high speed. He only appears as a blur of darkness! Sora narrowly dodges, but Riku disappears and reappears somewhere else, still a blur.

"How can we help him?" Yen mutters. "He can't take Riku on his own!"

"Then we'll help indirectly!" Matt says. "Keep casting spells, those can at least get through." Donald and Yen repeatedly sent spells through the barrier, either to heal Sora or attack Ansem.

Matt and I worked on destroying the barrier between us, but that didn't actually work at all. Every time we tried to hit the barrier, it shocked us. It didn't help that I was still in terrible pain.

Vanitas suddenly speaks up. "_I can help with that. All you have to do is let me take control_."

"I'm not going to do that! I can't use darkness ever again!"

"_Do you want your brother to be alive or not_?" That hit home.

I stop for a moment, but eventually say, "Fine, do what you need to do." Suddenly, every muscle in my body locks up and I fall over. Everything goes black.

*****Kingdom Hearts*****

I find myself in the place with the glass platforms again. I really need a name for this place, huh? Strangely, Vanitas is nowhere to be seen.

"What are you doing!" I hear Matt say. He sounds like I'm under water. Muffled and distant.

"Snap out of it, Kaze!" That was Yen. What's going on? I walk to the edge of the glass and look down. Instead of he foggy nothingness usually there, I see Yen, Donald, Goofy, and Matt standing as if they're blocking something.

"Out of my way!" That was Vanitas's voice! A strange Keyblade flashes across my vision and the four of them fall over. That had to be the fastest Keyblade strike I've ever seen! And what is Vanitas doing out there? At least that explains why he's not here.

I sit down on the edge of the glass wit my legs hanging over the side and watch. Vanitas walks up to the barrier and simply holds his Keyblade out in front of himself. A dark aura surrounds it and with a loud explosion, the barrier disintegrates.

I stand up, waiting to return to my body, but nothing happens. "Vanitas!" I shout. "You said you'd just get rid of the barrier!"

Vanitas's reply chills my bones. "_I never said that. I think I'll just keep control over your body!_"

"I don't think so!" I say instinctively. I summon _Rising Sun_ and point it at the foggy sky. A beam of light fires from the tip and lights the dark fog slowly fades away, leaving pure white. In the distance, I can see Vanitas falling down, seemingly asleep. Or is that just my imagination?

*****Kingdom Hearts*****

I open my eyes to see I'm back in the room with Sora and Ansem. A quick check confirms I'm back in control! But what just happened?

I take a look around to see what happened while Vanitas had control, but I gasp when I see what happened. I am pointing my Keyblade at Sora's heart.

Both Sora and Ansem stare in shock. "Kaze, what just happened?" Sora asks.

"Forget it." I lower Rising Sun. "Let's deal with Ansem first!" Sora nods, but he still seems disturbed by my actions. I shrug it off, though. We have more important things to worry about.

I shoot a Firaga at Ansem because I can't exactly move around too much. Sora jumps up into the air to swing down at Riku. _Sleeping Lion _glows with light and my Firaga zeroes in on it. Fire and light mix, creating a rainbow of colors around Sora's Keyblade. Ansem gasps as Sora cuts right through him.

"What? How... Is this... possible!" He cries. Ansem fades away. I tried to grab him, in hope that Riku was still in there, but I was too late. He is gone.

Everyone soon regains consciousness, but they still seem wary around me. They do have a right to, I guess. Abruptly, we all hear a deep **thud **near Kairi's frail form. We all look at it in surprise. It's Ansem's Keyblade!

Sora stares at it and Kairi in turn. I can tell what he's thinking.

"Sora, don't do this! We'll find another way to free Kairi's heart!" Yet, he picks it up. "Sora, please!"

He looks at us and grins one of his goofy grins. He turns it toward his chest and grips the opposite end. "Sorry, guys!" Then, he plunges the dark Keyblade into his chest.

* * *

**Sorry if that last part felt rushed. It was harder to write than the rest. I hope you enjoyed it.**


	37. Sora

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts**

* * *

The moment Ansem's Keyblade entered Sora's chest, darkness began to leak out of it. Sora released it and let his arms drop to his side. The Keyblade itself floats out of Sora and into the air where it evaporates into darkness. Sora begins to fall back, but I grab him just in time. He feels light.

Six shining lights floated out from the Keyblade and floated down the hallway, each going toward a different Princess of Heart. "Hearts." I whispered aloud.

Finally, a brilliant light erupts from Sora's chest. Out of it comes a seventh heart. Kairi's. it wafts toward her and sinks into her chest. Kairi's eyes blink open immediately.

She sits up just as Sora becomes even lighter. He begins to shine with a golden light as his heart drifts out of his chest and up to the ceiling. Strangely, a third, almost invisible heart comes out as well. No one seems to notice it, but I swear I saw something.

Suddenly, Kairi shouts. "Sora!" She runs toward Sora, but it's too late. As soon as she reaches him, his body evaporates into golden sparkles that drift out of sight.

"Sora! Sora, come back!" Donald shouts in vain.

"Sora… are you really…," Kairi cries. "No, I won't let him go!" A tear slides down my cheek. Sora… he's really gone this time… Riku too. Now all I have left is Kairi. Nothing will ever be the same again.

Suddenly, Ansem's voice comes out of nowhere. "So, you have awakened at last, Princess!" Not him again! A corridor of darkness opens, and he steps out.

"Your job is now finished. The keyhole is complete." He takes a step toward us, but he suddenly is frozen in his tracks. "What? Impossible!"

A second later, Riku appears before Ansem, holding him back. "No! I won't let you use me for this!" Riku turns to us. "Run, the heartless are coming!"

As if on cue, multiple shadow heartless appear around us. "Now!" Riku shouts.

I summon Rising Sun as a Shadow leaps toward us. I cut it in half, leaving only black dust. "Go on! I'll hold them back!" I shout.

Kairi tries to object. "But-"

"Riku can't hold Ansem back forever, and he'll just come after us! I'll catch up later!" Kairi nods and follows everyone else out of the room. I turn to face Ansem. If I can't save Sora, the least I can do is save Riku!

I quickly dispatch the Shadows with a Thundaga leaving only me and Ansem. With a sad look, the glowing form of Riku disappears from in front of Ansem.

"I am finally rid of the boy's heart." Ansem sighs thankfully. What does he mean 'rid of'? "Now it is your turn, Kaze. Or have you not noticed yet?"

"Noticed what?" What did this guy do to me?

"Take a look at yourself. You're already fading away!" Against my better judgement, I take a look at my arm. It's starting to look transparent!

"What did you do to me!" I demand.

"All I did was give you a one way ticket to the Realm of Darkness. I thought I already told you that?"

So when he said, 'have fun in the Realm of Darkness,' he literally meant it. Abruptly, a blast of pain returns to my chest. I put my free hand to it instinctively.

"Don't you see? It's working already? Before long, you'll be out of my hair for good. But for now, I think your friends need your help." Ansem points to the door and I see a crowd of heartless running after them. One seems to stay farther behind, though. It seems strangely familiar...

I shake my head, no time to think about that now! I jump off of the platform and chase after them.

*****Kingdom Hearts*****

I eventually catch up to the straggler. As I prepare to destroy it, it looks up at me. It almost looks, sad.

I lower Rising Sun and look at the Shadow more closely. It doesn't attack or anything, it just stands there.

"Kaze?" What was that? It sounded really distant, but a lot like… Sora? I try to look around for him, but I find nothing. Maybe I just imagined it.

"Kaze!" There it is again! The heartless stares at me and I finally understand. "Sora!" Suddenly, Sora turns and jumps off of a balcony to a lower floor. I don't dare follow, but I take a normal way down.

*****Kingdom Hearts*****

Eventually, i reach the bottom floor. The group is there. Donald, however, is there, banging the Shadow on the head with his staff.

"Confounded heartless! Stop following us!"

"I'll get rid of it!" Matt says.

"No!" Kairi and I shout. Wait, how does she know?

"Don't you see? It's Sora!" Kairi says. Everyone but I seem confused, but before they can question anything, the horde of heartless I saw before emerges from the ground.

Kairi and I stand protectively in front Sora. "Don't worry Sora," she says, "This time, I'll protect you!"

Suddenly, every heartless in the room leaps toward the three of us. Kairi and I grab Sora's heartless to protect him.

Abruptly, the weight of all of the heartless covers me. I am smothered by darkness. I can't move or breathe. I can't summon Rising Sun because it might destroy what's left of Sora.

Just when it feels hopeless, a bright light shines in the center of the pile. In a flash, every heartless is flung back and destroyed. Somehow, I wasn't affected. But where's Kairi?

I turn around and see Kairi. But even better, Sora is with her! He's alive!

"Kairi, thank you." Sora whispers.

Kairi looks up into Sora's face in surprise. "Sora!"

I want to go to Sora too, but we'll have to deal with this later. Shadows come up from the floor and we all prepare to fight. Abruptly, I hear a loud roar.

Beast leaps from the top of the fountain, taking a swipe at a heartless. "Go! Now!" He roars.

"Come with us!" Sora says.

"I told you before, I'm not leaving without Belle!" A heartless strays too near and Beast destroys it. "Go!"

"Come on Sora, we can't make him come." I say. Sora nods and we all run outside to our gummi ships.


	38. I was wrong

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Kingdom Hearts**

* * *

I float leisurely on my back in the dark water of the Waterways. Swimming always calmed me down, and that is something I really need right now.

Thoughts swirl through my head. Will I really end up in the Realm of Darkness? Could I even survive there? How did Ri- Ansem even do this to me?

And Riku. He can't really be gone! Nothing will ever be the same without him! He was always there to help us, lead us. No matter what it takes, we have to save him!

I climb out of the water to the ledge I left my shirt on. I leave my feet dangling in the water while I dry off. I stare at my hand. u feel a mix of wonder and fear at the sight of slight transparency. It's barely noticeable now, but my skin is lighter, too light to be normal, but most people won't notice. Yet.

Suddenly, I hear a splash near the front of the Waterway. Someone's coming in. I lean back, melding deeper into the shadows. I don't think I should let anyone know I am here.

"Where did Cid say that Navi-G gummi was?" That was Sora! What's he doing here?

"He said something about a mural," Goofy says, "Right?

"You mean like that one?" Donald. A few seconds later, Sora swims into my view. He comes out of the water near the mural on the wall. The painting dipicts a beautiful night, although I could have sworn it used to be a peaceful afternoon.

After a few seconds of messing with it, a loud clunk resounds through the area. From my vantage point, I can see a two small gummi blocks drop into Sora's hand from an opening in the wall. Where that hole came from, I'll never know.

Suddenly, Kairi's voice echoes through the chamber. "Sora, are you down here?" How did she get here without swimming? I scoot farther across the ledge to get a better view.

Sora stands facing Kairi. Donald and Goofy seem to have left. It was just Kairi, Sora, and me. Well, they don't know I'm here.

"You know what's funny?" Sora says. "I looked everywhere for you, but you were with me all along. Finally, we're together, Kairi. Now, it's time to get Riku back."

Kairi seems doubtful. "You think it'll ever be the same again between us? Riku's lost his-" Sora quickly stopped her.

"When I turned into a Heartless, you saved me, remember? I was lost in the darkness. I couldn't find my way. As I stumbled through the dark, I started forgetting things-my friends, who I was. The darkness almost swallowed me. But then I heard a voice-your voice. Kairi, you brought me back." So that's how Sora came back. But how did that work?

Maybe it has something to do with Kairi being a Princess of Heart. Leon mentioned the seven of them have special powers...

"I didn't want to just forget about you, Sora." Kairi explains. "I couldn't."

"That's it! Our hearts are connected. And the light from our hearts broke through the darkness. I saw that light. I think that's what saved me. No matter how deep the darkness, a light shines within. I guess it's more than just a fairy tale." Wait, what fairy tale? Maybe it's an inside story.

I frown. "One that I'm not included in." I mumble bitterly. Suddenly, a burst of pain erupts in my chest and I almost fall off my ledge. Why did that happen?

"Well, let's go." Kairi suddenly says.

"You can't go!" Sora shouts.

"Why not?"

"Because it's way too dangerous!" Now she's angry. Sora should know Kairi hates being left out of an adventure

"Come on, Sora. We made it this far by sticking together. You  
can't go alone!"

"Kairi, even if we're apart, we're not alone anymore. Right?"

"I can't help?" She still looks upset.

"You'd kind of be in my way."

"Okay. You win." Kairi digs something out of her pocket and hands it to Sora. After a few seconds, I can tell it's a wayfinder. This one is blue.

"Take this. It's my lucky charm." Kairi says. "Be sure to bring it back to me."

"Don't worry. I will."

"Promise?"

"Promise." Sora assures.

"Don't ever forget. Wherever you go, I'm always with you." With that said, the two of them leave through a secret passage I never noticed before.

What else don't I know?

With everyone gone, I summon _Rising Sun_ and stare at the Keychain. The charm Kairi gave me in Halloween Town. Back when I thought… thought… that she liked me.

Kairi likes Sora! And probably always has! How could I have been so stupid! In anger, I rip off the charm. With a flash, my Keyblade changes back to it's original form. I throw the charm as daft away as I can, not caring where it lands.

I sit down and pull my knees up to my face. I begin to think about all of the times Kairi showed affection for Sora but I ignored it.

That time Sora broke his leg, she cared for him more than our own parents. And all those times they refused to let me and Riku go with them somewhere.

"How could I think she liked me?" I whisper.

Eventually, I climb down and swim to where the charm fell. I dive to the bottom to retrieve it and swim over to the mural. It's still open from when Sora got the Navi-G gummis.

I quickly dry off the charm and place it in the opening. With a click, the mural slides back into place, obscuring the hiding place completely.

It wouldn't feel right to use the charm. I now know it wasn't meant for me. A tear slides down my cheek as I walk out.

_Sora is the one who deserves it._


	39. Behemoth

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts**

* * *

"So what's the plan for getting to Hollow Bastion?" Matt asks Cid. In response, Cid holds out the two gummi blocks I saw Sora retrieve earlier.

"These navi-g gummis." He answers. "As you guys know, the path to Hollow Bastion is filled with heartless; it's too dangerous to go through." I shudder at the memory of trying to get out of there. We were almost shot out of the air.

"So we use these two Navi-Gs to find another way through!" Matt says, interrupting him.

"Couldn't you just let me finish!" Cid growls. "I'll just go install them in your ships." Cid angrily stomps off to wear we landed the gummi ships, leaving the six of us in the cafe.

"You really think this will work?" Vanitas taunts. "This plan just screams failure" I thought he'd be quiet for just a bit longer.

"Do you ever shut up!" I accidently growl aloud. Everyone nearby stares at me strangely. Embarrassed, I sink lower into my chair. "See what you made me do!" I shout mentally.

Sora walks over to me. I glare at him, but he doesn't seem to notice how mad I am. Why is he so oblivious to everything?

"What's going on, Kaze?" Sora asks. "You've been acting weird since we got separated at Agrabah."

I stay silent, still fuming about had happened an hour ago. "Well, if you want to talk about it..." Not with you.

All of a sudden, my left hand starts to feel cold. I glance at it and jump in shock. A dark aura surrounds it. I shake my hand in an attempt to rid myself of the shadow. It doesnt take long for the darkness to fade away, but i still feel cold. Luckily, no one seemed to see it but me.

"Did you do that?" I ask Vanitas.

"Who, me?" He answers, feigning innocence. "Why would I do a thing like that? That darkness was all you." I recoil in shock. I'm using darkness now?

"Your ships are all done now," Cid shouts, coming into the square. "You're all ready to go and save the worlds!"

"Thanks, Cid!" Sora says. "We won't let you guys down." He, Donald, and Goofy rush to their ship and soon take off. I watch their ship slowly disappear into the sky.

"What are you waiting for?" Matt asks me. I didn't notice I was still standing still. "We have to hurry up, the worlds aren't going to save themselves!" Is it just me, or does he seem really impatient?

Yen also seems to feel the same way. Both of them pull me into the ship and we soon take off into the sky.

We soon come across a portal near Traverse Town. Electricity sparks all around it, making it seem way too dangerous.

"Are you sure we should be going through that thing?" Yen whispers.

"There's no going back now," Matt says. "You know what's at stake." Yen nods and I feel like there's some inside story I'm not a part of. It's weird to not be a part of it, but it's not like I've told them everything that happens in my life.

We fly straight into the vortex. Inside, white lightning zigzags throughout our path. Yen tries to avoid all of it, but a few bolts strike true. The gummi ship shakes violently the entire time.

Luckily, we make it out with only a few charred and burned blocks. As Cid predicted, Hollow Bastion isn't that far away. Behind us is the shield of heartless we tried so hard to avoid. A few heartless notice us and try to attack, but we destroyed them quite easily.

"Let's hurry up and land before those heartless see us!" Matt urges.

"There's no way I'm fighting those again!" I agree. Yen nods and presses the warp button. In a flash of light, we arrive at the chapel where I fought Axel. There, five of the seven Princess stand. A few of them look really familiar for some reason.

"What's going on here?" Sora asks them. They are all standing in a circle, a white light emanates from their bodies.

"We're trying our best to hold back the darkness," Alice says.

"Please, seal the final keyhole," Snow White, another princess pleads.

"Don't worry," I say. "We will." Out of the corner of my eye, I notice a large chest near the altar. I walk over to it and open it. Inside is a featureless Keychain.

I look at it for a moment and then pull it out. It immediately begins to shine and change shape. Now, it resembles a black star.

I summon Light's Power and hook the new Keychain onto it. The new form is pure black. The guard resembles a pair of raven's wings. A dark jewel rests at various places along the Keyblade. The teeth look like a P with a line down the center on each side. Dark Rise.

I can already feel the power this Keyblade holds. This is probably the strongest Keyblade I've ever held. I dismiss it and join the group once more. Together, we head toward the Final Keyhole.

We all stand before the Final Keyhole When we were here before, it pulsed a rainbow of colors. Now, it is only red and black. I can feel the darkness coming from it. It's suffocating.

Everyone with a Keyblade points it at the Keyhole. Similtaneously, a blue light glows at the end of each Keyblade. Every light shoots forward and connects with the Keyhole. Suddenly, the scenery shifts. The mechanical appearance of the room wavers and is replaced with a black and red space.

Everyone looks around at our surroundings. "Where are we?" Matt wonders aloud.

Yen answers, but he doesn't seem to sure of himself. "I think we're inside the Keyhole." That does seem to make sense.

"Where's Ansem?" Sora asks, changing the subject. "Shouldn't he be here?"

"That's what I thought too..." I mutter. "It doesn't make sense."

Suddenly, a violent tremor shakes the ground. Seeming appearing out of nowhere, a muscular quadruped thing comes into our view. It's massive, probably 12 feet tall! It's colored purple and blue and three large horns rest on it's head. It's center hon is short and pointed, but the ones on the side of its head are long and curled. Below the center horn is a heartless emblem.

"It's a Behemoth!" Yen gasps. "They're one of the strongest heartless in the worlds!"

It takes another step, causing another tremor. "Then we'll have to get rid of it, don't we?" Matt says confidently. "We can't have this thing running around!" He charges directly at it with his Keyblade raised. The rest of us follow shortly after.

It didn't take long for us to figure out to stay clear of the behemoth's raised feet. It's round hooves caused a large shockwave whenever they hit the ground. Unfortunately, they were the only part of it we could actually reach.

For some reason, our attacks didnt seem to be doing anything at all. As I dodged yet another stomp, I yelled to Yen, "Don't you know any other way to hurt this thing?"

"No, not many people have survived long enough to figure that out!" I groan. Then how can we beat it?

All of a sudden, I hear a strange crackling sound. I look up to see the heartless' horn is glowing. It roars and many bolts of lightning rain down on us. One bolt hits me and I fall painfully to the ground.

Note to self, stay clear of that lightning. I pick myself up and cast a cuts spell on everyone. We continue attacking the legs, but still, nothing happens.

"Why can't we hurt this thing!" Donald screams angrily. "Firaga!" Donald's spell shoots toward the Behemoth's glowing horn. The fireball explodes on contact and the heartless roars in pain.

That's it! It's weak spot is its horn! Everyone seems to get the idea and we all begin to attack the behemoth's horn. Sora and I jump onto the behemoth's legs and then onto its broad back. We each viscous ly attack from there.

I'm pretty sure it's almost finished now! Suddenly, the horn glows again. Realizing the danger, I cast an aero spell on Sora and me. Like before, lightning bolts rain down on us, but it doesn't stop.

Everyone runs clear of the heartless to escape the lightning. It doesn't look like the bolts will be stopping anytime soon.

"Does anyone have a plan?" Sora asks.

"Not a clue," Goofy says.

"Well," Yen begins. We all turn to him. "Does anyone have any summons? They're technically spirits so they can't be hurt."

"And that power spreads to the user!" Matt concludes. "Let's do this!" I dig a summon gem from my pocket. This one is a bright yellow topaz. Sora takes out a dark green one.

We each hold our gems in the air and they begin to glow. Before I know it, I'm in the place I met Wall•E and Tinker Bell.

Out of nowhere, I white blur slams into me. I fall back, the breath knocked out of me. On my chest stands a small white dog with a black thunderbolt on his side. The dog barks and I pet him. I suddenly know his name, Bolt.

I find myself back in the battle. At my side, Bolt stands. At Sora's side is a majestic golden lion with a red mane. How come Sora gets a Lion and I get a dog?

However, I soon realize Bolt's usefulness. As far as I can tell, Bolt has super powers. He dashes straight at the Behemoth almost faster than I can make sense of.

He slams into the heartless's side, knocking it off balance. The lightning stops, allowing the rest of our team to attack. Bolt and I attack the horn from a distance, me casting spells and Bolt shooting green lasers from his eyes.

Sora and the Lion hop onto the Behemoth's back, using powerful attacks on the horn.

In a few moments, Bolt and the Lion disappear. At the same time, the heartless drops to its knees with a thud. It slowly fades away, darkness spilling out from every pore of its body. In a few seconds, it's gone.

Suddenly, a golden light appears in the air. Uncontrollably, all of our Keyblades point at it. Like before, a light shoots out of each Keyblade, striking the Keyhole. Then, everything was dark.


	40. Into darkness

I open my eyes to see we're all back in the room where the Keyhole used to be. It must have disappeared when we sealed it. All that remains is a wall of pipes and machinery.

At the bottom of the stairs leading down, the gang from Traverse Town stands. Aerith, Leon, Yuffie, and Cid. We go down to meet them.

"You did it!" Aerith cheers. "You sealed the final Keyhole!"

"Good job," Leon says gruffly. He isn't very talkative, is he?

"Don't mind him," Yuffie says cheerily. "You guys did great! You have no idea how much this means to us!" What does she mean by that?

Noticing my and Sora's confused expressions, Leon elaborates. "Hollow Bastion is our home world. We thought it was destroyed, but apparently Maleficent took over."

"Not to mention it's our world too," Matt says. So that's why they were so determined to save this place. If I could save Destiny Islands, I wouldn't stop at anything.

Sora changes the subject suddenly. "But where is Ansem? He should have been in there, right?"

Yen turns to him. "You have a point there. If he's not here, then where could he be?"

"I think I can solve that problem," Cid says. "A new world appeared not far from here. A powerful darkness is centered there. You can't use a gummi ship, but a portal leading there is in the cathedral." In a wordless glance, we all agreed to go.

Cid leads us back to the cathedral. In the center of the room, the air seems to shimmer, sometimes shining purple.

"Is that it?" Matt asks.

"Yes. It will lead you guys to the new world." We all begin to walk toward it but Cid suddenly stops us. "And one more thing, we're not sure if you guys will be able to return through the same portal. You'll probably have to find a new way out."

"So what will happen to us if we're trapped and can't return?" Yen whispers. Cid doesn't answer this time.

"We just won't let that happen!" I say. "We'll find a way out, no matter what!" I don't know why I feel so confident. I can tell there aren't many options for escape. Deep inside my heart, I have a feeling we won't be coming back.

_**Kingdom Hearts.**_

My vision clears up, revealing a dark dawn sky and what looks to be a light purple sea. I'm standing on what looks like a slab of floating rock. A few more are scattered throughout the area. A few hundred yards away, a strange portal-like distortion appears.

"What is this place?" I hear Matt whisper. I look around me. Everyone is here, but what is here?

Yen looks at the rock surrounding us. Every one seems to be made of something different, now that I look closer. A few are sand, some are covered in grass, and some look like parts of buildings.

"You don't think…" Yen whispers. Sora nods.

"This is what's left of all of the worlds taken by darkness." How did he come up with that? Now that he mentions it, that would make sense.

"Do you think Ansem is here?" I ask.

"He might as well be," Donald says in his usual almost unintelligible voice. "We can't leave this place. The gummi ships aren't responding!"

"What do you mean, not responding!" Goofy cries.

Donald smacks him with his wand, much to my surprise. "It means we're stuck in this world, you big palooka!" I interrupt before things can get more heated between the two.

"Come on, guys! We need to defeat Ansem before he can destroy any more worlds!"

"But if we save all of the worlds," Sora says, "what happens to this one?" I didn't think about that. If all of these worlds are remains of worlds lost in darkness, then they have to disappear. With us in it!

"Don't worry, guys," Goofy says, "Even if this world disappears, we'll be just fine!" I don't know how he can know that, but I'd rather believe Goofy than think we'll all disappear.

We hop from stone to stone, not wanting to ind out if the ground wasnt solid the hard way. However, after a few minutes of this, a strange whistling noise fills my ears. I look up and gasp in shock. A large orb of darkness is falling right at me!

I stay rooted to the spot, unable to go anywhere. The Darkness Falls closer and closer. it may be far away now, but it's going way to fast to avoid. Noticing I was looking up, the rest of our group looks up from their spots as well. Before I know it, two balls enter my vision. We're going to be wiped out!

The orbs come closer and closer. finally, they hit the ground and a brilliant explosion ensues. I have to cover my eyes to avoid being blinded. (It is kinda weird how darkness went to light, though.) Just when I think it's over, I find myself facing multiple heartless.

I look around, confused. Matt and Donald are here as well, looking confused. But that doesn't last long. Realizing the heartless could attack any minute, we each prepare our weapons.

The first to attack is a humanoid shadow heartless. It appears to be quite buff and floats a foot above the ground. It has a long tail with a spiked end. It has two sets of wings, one set of bat wings on its back and one set of angel wings on it's elbows. It carries a huge blue sword with Japanese sybols on it as well.

The heartless swings it sword down on Matt, but he uses his Keyblade to block the strike. The two stay evenly matched for a moment before a blast of fire separates the two.

All of a sudden, the other heartless are spurred into action. There are two more heartless like the one Matt is fighting and three that look like winged hour-glasses. Determining the shadows to be a bigger threat, I decide to take them on first.

I charge up to the closest one, firing a volley of firagas. The heartless is dazed when I reach it and slash with my Keyblade. It is unable to dodge and is pushed a few feet backward. I continue my assault, but it eventually swings its sword hard and I go flying back. The blast seems to have broken a rib or two, but I use a cura spell to put it back into place.

I stand up and search for the heartless. It disappeared! Suddenly, something slams into my side, pushing me out of the way. I look to where it ended up to see it was the sword! But where is the heartless.

The sword swings around toward me and tries to attack again. I dive out of the way, but it just turns back for another try.

I dodge again and again until the sword plants itself in the ground. I relax, thinking I can get a break, but it's not over! I ring of dark flame appears around my waist. I try to run away from it, but it stays firmly planted where it is.

It begins to spin, slowly at first, but steadily gains speed as time goes on. All the while, I try to get out of it. Suddenly, the ring starts to glow and a sharp pain blasts me into the air.

I fall to the ground, bouncing onto my stomach. I cast another cura, but I can tell my magic is out of the option for now. At least the heartless is back now. It picks up its sword and flies straight at me.

I fake a strike going left and when it tries to block, I turn to swing on it's right side. While it's stunned, I jump into the air to attack. I swing back and forth, forcing the heartless to the ground. Then, still in the air, I cast Thundaga. The heartless is obliterated instantly.

Now to focus on the other ones. Matt seems to have finished off his heartless and is fighting one of the hourglasses. These things flie around so quickly, it's must be hard to hit. Then I'll just use magic!

I grab an ether from my pocket and crush the blue cube in my hand. A soft light washes over me and I feel my magic return.

I charge over to the heartless, casting all of the attack spells I know. I even use gravira, a spell I barely know how to use. It works this time, crushing the heartless against the ground. The intense pressure destroys it after a few seconds.

As soon as we finish off the other two heartless, we find ourselves back on the rocks. Soon, Sora, Yen, and Goofy appear on the rocks they stood on.

Unwilling to fight another group of heartless, we go much faster. We quickly reach the distortion ahead and jump straight through.

I find myself at the edge of a large drop. I can't see the bottom, but colorful crystals and spiderwb-like thread is scattered throughout the place. It's lucky I stopped right then because I'm right at the edge of a platform.

Suddenly, something hits me from behind! I lean forward, losing my balance. It looks like I'm about to see the bottom of this place. I try to steady myself, but it's no use.

I fall forward, flipping wildly. Everything blurs past. i hear Matt shout my name in worry. I eventually manage to gain an upright position, then I use magic to slow my fall. It's a good thing I can do that.

Once on the ground, I look around. There are just as many crystals down here as up there! They look kind of valuable too...

I shake my head as if to remind myself not to think about munny. We're on a mission here!

"Kaze! Are you okay?" Sora shouts. I can't see him, the crevasse is too dark.

"I'm alright!" I holler back. "I'm not sure i can get back up though!"

I take another look around for a way up. All of a sudden, a bright light begins to come from a large, apparently hollow, rock. The light seems to twist around itself in bright ribbons. It is quite beautiful to see. The rock rises too high to jump onto, but there has to be a way, right?

I shout up to my friends. "Guys, I think I found a way out of here! Just don't fall all of the way down!"

"We're on it!" Matt calls. Now to find a way in!

I look around the bottom. All I can see is a few rocks and crystals; nothing I can climb onto to get high enough. Then, I notice a wall with a few vines on it. I run over to it and test the strength of the foliage. It seems strong enough to me.

I grab on and pull myself up. I keep climbing until I reach an outreach of rock. Right above the hole! Now that I can see the top, it seems to be a fall into nothingness.

Soon, the rest of the group floats down, also using magic to slow their descent. Noticing what I had planned, Yen exclaims, "Seriously, you want to go in there!"

"Yep. It's the only way out!" I say. Everyone still looks reluctant, so I take the first jump in. "See you on the other side!" I jump in. The light seems to be blowing a strong wind, almost strong enough to push me out.

I continue to fall into nothingness, unable to see anything. Was I wrong about this exit? Was it a trap? Do I just lead my friends to their deaths!

"Just when I feel it's over, I hit solid ground. I sigh in reliev before lookin around. I am in the center of a strange lookin tower. More of them are off in the distance. At opposite ends of the tower, a green and blue light appear.

In a few minutes, Sora, Matt, Yen, Donald, and Goofy appear. One minute, nothing was there, then they were.

"Looks like you were right, Kaze," Sora says.

"We can take care of the congratulations later!" Yen says in a normal voice. This must be important. "We need to find Ansem soon. I can feel the darkness in this place growing stronger!"

I can feel it too, now that he mentions it. I feel cold. Not just a regular cold, but the kind that gets right into your bones. Like the time I got locked in the ice cream shop with Sora and Riku. I never thought anything could get colder than that.

"Then we have to hurry!" Sora says, zipping up his jacket. He felt it too, then.

"But which way do we go?" Goofy asks. "The green light or the blue one?"

"I think blue," I suggest. "We came in near the green, so blue is the obvious choice." No one argued, so we headed to the blue ball of energy. Tired of going first, I let everyone else go before me. When someone touched the ball, they faded away, leaving nothing. It was the best each of us could do to hope they got somewhere safely.

When it was my turn, I touched the orb. It felt so warm. So much better than the cold. I felt like I was flying across the sky for a brief second and I then found myself in front of a large pillar of darkness. The rest of the group is nowhere to be seen.

In retrospect, I probably shouldn't go near the darkness. It just doesn't seem like a good idea. But for some reason, it's calling to me. I feel like there is something I need to see. Something important.

Against my better judgement, I go into the dark pillar.

_**Kingdom Hearts**_

"What is this place?" I whisper aloud. I'm in what looks like a lab. A computer sits in the center of the room surrounded by five containers filled with different color liquids. They look big enough to fit a lot of stuff inside. I shiver. Or a person.

I go over to the computer. It is already on and a strange message is on the screen.

Ones born of the heart and darkness, devoid of hearts, ravage all worlds and bring desolation. Seize all hearts and consummate the great heart. All hearts to be one, one heart to encompass all. Realize the destiny: the realm of Kingdom Hearts. The great darkness sealed within the great heart. Progeny of darkness, come back to the eternal darkness. For the heart of light shall unseal the path. Seven hearts, one Keyhole, one key to the door. The door of darkness, tied by two keys. The door to darkness to seal the light. None shall pass but shadows, returning to the darkness. One born of the heart and darkness, hunger for every heart until the dark door opens.

What could that possibly mean?

I don't have time to think about it, though! Three invisibles, the sword wielding heartless, appear behind me!

I duck under one swing aimed for my head, but the strike hits the computer, destroying it! Looks like I'm not getting any answers any time soon.

I summon my Keyblade and easily dispatch the heartless, already knowing their attacks. "I can take on anything!" I say to myself, confidently.

All of a sudden, the lab disappears, leaving me back in a tower. Only this time, my friends are here as well.

"Did anyone else see another world?" I ask. Everyone nods. "And did you find anything odd?" Everyone nods again and pulls a paper or two out of their pockets. The papers look old, yellowed with age. It's a wonder they even hold together, much less that they're legible.

On each paper, the top reads 'Ansem Report'. Every one has a different number; 1-13. We arrange them in order and read.

_Ansem Report 1 –_

_Much of my life has been dedicated to pursuit of knowledge. That knowledge has guarded this world well. Not a soul doubts that. I am blessed with people's smiles and respect. But though I am called a sage, there are things I do not understand. I believe darkness sleeps in every heart, no matter how pure. Given the chance, the smallest drop can spread and swallow the heart. I have witnessed it many times._

_Darkness… Darkness of the heart. How is it born? How does it come to affect us so? As ruler of this world, I  
must find the answers. I must find them before the world is lost to those taken by the darkness._

_Ansem Report 2 –_

_It is my duty to expose what this darkness really is. I shall conduct the following experiments:_

_- Extract the darkness from a person's heart._

_- Cultivate darkness in a pure heart._

_- Both suppress and amplify the darkness within._

_The experiments caused the test subject's heart to collapse, including those of the most stalwart. How fragile our hearts are! My treatment produced no signs of recovery. I confined those who had completely lost their hearts beneath the castle._

_Some time later, I went below and was greeted by the strangest sight. Creatures that seemed born of darkness… What are they? Are they truly sentient beings? Could they be the shadows of those who lost their hearts in my experiments?_

_Ansem Report 3 –  
The shadows that crawl beneath the castle… Are they the people who lost their hearts, or incarnations of darkness? Or something entirely beyond my imagination?_

_All my knowledge has provided no answer. One thing I am sure of is that they are entirely devoid of emotion. Perhaps further study will unlock the mysteries of the heart._

_Fortunately, there is no shortage of test samples. They are multiplying underground even as I write this report. They still need a name. Those who lack hearts… I will call them the Heartless._

_Ansem Report 4 –_

_The Heartless appear in groups, and are multiplying rapidly. I've provided them both living and nonliving samples. They've responded only to the living. They seem to multiply after absorbing something from the living creatures. Their prey vanishes without a trace._

_I believe the Heartless are taking hearts. They are born from those who've lost their hearts, and thrive on hearts seized from others. The hearts taken by the Heartless become Heartless themselves._

_Though I lack proof, I am confident in this hypothesis. I must also study their behavioral principles. Though they lack emotions, they do seem to have some intelligence. How to communicate with them?_

_It's just occurred to me: Could they be the darkness in people's hearts?_

_Ansem Report 5 –_

_To study the Heartless behavior, I picked one out for observation. It wiggled its antennae and, as if sensing a target, headed deep into the castle. In the deepest part of the castle, its antennae began vibrating, as if searching for something. Suddenly, a strange door appeared. I'd never known of its existence._

_I had a large keyhole, but didn't seem to be locked. SO I opened the door. What I saw on the other side mystified me. What was that powerful mass of energy. That night I observed a great meteor shower in the sky. Could it be related to the door that I have opened?_

_Ansem Report 6 –_

_A massive core of energy lay beyond the door sought by the Heartless. It may be the ultimate goal of the Heartless. But what is that energy? I have devised a hypothesis, based upon my observations of the Heartless._

_The Heartless feed on other's hearts, and they yearn for that energy core. That thing beyond the door must be a heart, too–the heart of this world. There is no proof, but, having felt that immense energy, I am certain. That was the heart of the world._

_The Heartless are trying to take hearts not only from all living creatures, but from the planet itself. But what do they mean to do with the heart of the world?_

_Ansem Report 7 –_

_I am studying material from the meteors that rained down that fateful night. What a find! The material is foreign to our world. It is elastic to the touch, and when two pieces are combined, they bond easily. None of the records even mention such a substance._

_Was it introduced to this world when I opened the door? I wonder how many other such materials drift through the atmosphere of this tiny world… I wish I could soar off and find out! Could there be uncharted worlds up there? My curiosity never ceases to grow._

_But I should stop speaking of such unrealistic dreams. For now, there is no way to venture outside this world. My people and I are all but prisoners of this tiny place._

_Ansem Report 8 –_

_There is no doubt that the Heartless are deeply connected to the people's hearts. Further study may unravel both their motivations and the mysteries shrouding the heart._

_As a start, I have built a device that artificially creates Heartless. By recreating the conditions that spawn the Heartless naturally, I should be able to produce them artificially. This device is the culmination of all my research thus far. The machine's test run successfully created a Heartless._

_This may be a step toward creating a heart from nothing. The artificially and naturally created Heartless showed nearly identical traits. But the two types remain distinct for the purpose of the experiment. So, I will mark the ones that are created artificially._

_Ansem Report 9 –  
Simply astonishing! Today I had a guest from another world. He is a king, and his vessel is built of the material that composed the meteors. He called the pieces "gummi blocks." It seemed that my opening the door has opened a path to interworld travel._

_We talked for countless hours, but one story in particular caught my interest: that of a key called the "Keyblade." The Keyblade is said to hold phenomenal power._

_ne legend says its wielder saved the world, while another says that he wrought chaos and ruin upon it. I must know what this Keyblade is. A key opens doors. It must be connected to the door I have opened._

_Ansem Report 10 –_

_Just as people have hearts, so do worlds. The same can be said of stars in the night sky. And deep within each world lies a door to its heart. The Heartless desire those hearts. Born out of darkness in people's hearts, they seek to return to a greater heart._

_Yes that's it. The Heartless come from people's hearts, as does the darkness. Is the core of the world's heart the world of the Heartless? I will pursue the answer there and become all knowing._

_My path is set. I shall seek out the wielder of the Keyblade, and the princesses. My body is too frail for such a journey, but I most do this. I will cast it off and plunge into the depths of darkness._

_You can only acquire the following 3 Ansem Reports in Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix_

_Ansem Report 11 –_

_In opening the door that stores a world's hearts, the wall around that world is broken down. We see this as a shooting star. Through this, I have been able to understand the reason why the material known as Gummi Blocks has the ability to allow travel to other worlds._

_The cause of a world's wall collapsing is the appearance of the Heartless, but finding a world's door takes time. And robbing a world of its heart is a similar case._

_If the door has been closed by the key known as the Keyblade, you probably cannot reach that world's heart again. Before the one with the Keyblade appears in this world, I must take measures to do something._

_Supposing that there is a close relationship between the Princesses and the Keyblade, it seems likely that they will resonate with each other…_

_I have chosen one special girl. I do not know if she possesses a power like that of the Princesses. But, there is a chance, and this is an experiment. She may lead me to the place where the one holding the key is…_

_I shall send her off to the ocean of other worlds._

_Ansem Report 12 –_

_I have transcended to an existence of only the heart. I should have come back as a Heartless, but there is no sign of such a transformation._

_My body has surely perished. However, I am different from the other Heartless, keeping the memories of before, and I have not taken on the form of a Heartless. It is clear that there are still many things to be studied._

_In order to cross over to the dark side, which is not this world, you must go beyond the door of Kingdom Hearts, the place connected to the world's heart._

_The innermost part connected to the world's heart, the place connecting to the world of darkness. (I will record the details in another report…)_

_There are still so many unknown worlds._

_The present world._

_The world of darkness._

_The world of light._

_And, The world in-between._

_Where does the true paradise lie, I wonder?_

_Ansem Report 13 –_

_When the heart casts off the flesh, where does the body go?_

_Heart and soul are separate, and the spirit remains in the body. But can we assume that the leftover body and soul perish?_

_Certainly when the heart changes into a Heartless the body disappears._

_However, that is only this world's story; in another world, mightn't they change forms like the Heartless and exist there?_

_If we take that to be the case, there must be a you other than yourself existing somewhere._

_An existence neither of darkness nor of light._

_An in-between existence._

_Cast off by the heart, a mere shell, one who begrudges both the darkness and the light._

_This mystery cannot be easily resolved._

_The relationship between the heart and the flesh is a complex one._

_But since we exist here, they cannot be termed as existent._

_Therefore I shall call them…_

_"The non-existent ones."_

Woah. That was kind of creepy. Ansem is the reason for the heartless invading! I knew he was bad, but not this bad! And he turned himself into a heartless! He must have been restored like Sora

"I think it's time we told you guys something," Matt says.

"Yes. It's about Ansem," Yen whispers.

Matt quickly says his next sentence as if it is painful to get out. "He used to be ruler of Hollow Bastion!"

"What!" I cry. "But he's so evil!"

Yen elaborates. "Well, he wasnt always that way. Before the heartless invaded, Ansem was a wise and kind ruler. He was so nice to the people, who knew he could do anything wrong? But then, people started disappearing from town. Heartless appeared everywhere, and just after the incident with those other monsters! Finally, our world was taken over and no one had seen Ansem since. Until now."

We all stayed silent. It just doesn't add up. Why would such a nice person suddenly turn to the dark side? Then again, not much has made sense this past week. I never thought any of this could happen to me.

Well, we can't dwell on this now. We have to find Ansem! As if by a silent agreement, we all leap into the portal.


	41. Chernabog

"Finally, our world was taken over and no one had seen Ansem since. Until now." I cringe at Yen's retelling of Hollow Bastion's history. The memory of what happened still haunts me. I miss what my world used to be, but I have more important things to do.

A few moments after Kaze and his friends jump into the portal, I start forward. Until now, I used a special power of darkness to blend into the shadows. Now, I'm fully visible.

I suddenly hear the unmistakable sound of a Corridor of Darkness opening. I turn toward the darkness forming and see Axel step out. For a moment, I think he's Lea, but I know he's gone now. I don't think I'll ever get over seeing the nobodies of people I used to know.

"What are you doing here, Axel?" I ask blatantly. "I can handle this on my own."

"Just checking on my best buddy Raven," he answers jokingly. "It wouldn't be good if those kids defeated you."

I have a brief flashback to when I fought Matt and Yen. This won't be a repeat of that day! "I said I'll handle it!" I growl. "I'm a lot stronger than all of them combined!"

"Woah, calm down!" Axel says. "I just don't want you getting hurt. We go back a long way." Could he be referring to when we were kids? A few Nobodies in the Organization were my friend back then. Now, it's like they don't even remember! Especially Is- no- Saïx. It's like we were never even aquantences.

Well, what does it matter anyway? Once we have our hearts again, everything will be back to normal. I can go back to Hollow Bastion, have my old life back, whatever my old life was like. To be honest, I only really remember Isa, Lea, and Ienzo. I don't even know who my parents were.

"Having second thoughts?" Axel says, shaking me from my thoughts.

"No way! I won't let you guys down."

He grins slyly. "Good. Now I've gotta RTC. I'm in charge of training the new guy."

"Roxas, right?" I met him already. Even for a Nobody, that guy is pretty emotionless. Something is familiar about him, though.

"You got it." With that, Axel disappears into a Corridor. I proceed to follow Kaze.

* * *

_Kaze_

* * *

The moment that thing rose out of the mountain, I knew we were in trouble. It was pure black, almost blending into the background. The only thing that stood out against it's skin we're it's glowing yellow eyes. It also had huge, rippling muscles. Did I mention it was also fifty feet tall?

We've been fighting for a few minutes now. This monster is immensely powerful. It hasn't move it's arms from their crossed position, but it ha sent powerful waves of fire and lightning at us. It's incredibly hard to get close enough to attack directly. Ob

"What is this thing?" I shout to Yen, dodging a fireball.

"It's not a heartless, that's for sure!" He says, flying near me. "It doesn't display any characteristics of heartless, just darkness."

"So we have no idea how to deal with it?"

"Precisely." Great. Just great.

Regardless, I fly straight at the monster's face. I attack visiously, but the creature doesn't even flinch. Suddenly, it tenses and a wave of fire burns across its body. I was close enough that it hit me.

I fly back, casting curaga to treat my burns.

"That's gotta hurt!" Matt says as I come near.

"Tell me about it…" I answer. The spell finally finishes its job and my burns disappear. I sigh with relief.

When I turn toward the monster, a scarlet flame is burning in it's mouth. Oh no. It's not going to do what I think, is it?

My fears are confirmed as it releases a stream of fire from its mouth. It can breath fire! What's next? Just as the flames come near me, I fly upward as quickly as I can. I can still feel the heat, but the actual fire doesn't touch me.

Some of the others weren't so lucky, though. Donald, Yen, and Goofy were hit hard and are now unconcious and burned greatly.

I fly over to them and cast a Curaga, but it will take a while for them to wake up. Goofy and I push them out of the enemy's range for now.

I get to thinking. If this thing's attacks are all fire based and it seems to have an affinity with darkness, it's weaknesses must be ice and light, right? Well, it's worth a shot.

I fly over to Sora. "You need to attack with ice and light," I insist. He looks skeptical.

"Are you sure?" He asks. "How do you know?"

"Just trust me!" Sora shrugs and begins to fire a volley of icicles at our foe.

I fly around to everyone else at instruct them on what to do. Eventually, I'm able to join them.

Soon, the creature raises one hand and an orb of fire appears in it. The orb suddenly splits, firing smaller fireballs at all of us.

Two of them strike me in the chest and I immediately lose the power to fly. I fall for a few seconds before regaining the ability. I fly toward the monster's face, attacking visiously. However, my attacks still don't seem to do anything.

All of a sudden, the monster raises a fist and swings at me. I am hit hard and fly head over heels toward Yen who had recently awakened. We crash, but the impact slows us down and we eventually stop.

I growl. Okay, that is it! This guy is going down! Time for a little light!

I try to activate one of my light attacks, but for some reason, I can't. And that just makes me even madder! Well if light won't work, I'll use darkness!

I can feel darkness flow out of me, enveloping my entire body. _Dark Rise_ turns completely black and emits a black aura.

I rush the demon, Keyblade held out in front of me. I dash into it's face at high speed, going straight through. I then turn around, doing the same thing. This happens about five times before I stop, drained of energy.

Suddenly, the monster begins to fade away. Darkness leaks out of it from every part of its body. Before long, the demon is gone, leaving only the volcano.

Everyone stares at me. Was it because I used darkness? Or something else? Well, to be honest, I'm kind of ashamed of myself for doing that. I need to get my darkness under control.

Sora flies over to me. "Kaze, what happened to you?"

"What are you talking about?" I ask.

"Just look at yourself." Is he talking about…

I look down, surprised. I'm my entire torso and legs are transparent, almost invisible! How did this speed up so much!

"Seriously, what is going on?" Sora demands. I pause for a moment, deciding whether or not to tell them. Finally, I make my choice. I tell them what happened.

* * *

_Raven_

* * *

I watch silently from above as Kaze activates his dark powers. Just like Xemnas said he would. It won't be long now.

Although the plan started to go off track when that Riku kid decided to send Kaze to the Realm of Darkness, everything will still end up like we want. It doesn't make much sense, though. Ansem was supposed to destroy him, not cast that power. Was Riku somewhat in control? No, that's ridiculous!

With Chernabog defeated, Kaze and his friends start to talk. I can't hear what they're saying, but it must be about Kaze's condition.

After a few minutes, the group flies into the volcano. I cloak myself in darkness and follow. Inside, there is no lava, just many platforms like the ones all around this world.

At the bottom is a large, white portal. Kaze's group has already gone through long before me, probably in the middle of another fight by now. Man, we had the worst luck with that kind of thing. I almost miss being with them…

* * *

_Kaze_

* * *

I start to pant heavily as soon as the last heartless is destroyed. Four waves of monsters really tire a guy out! Every one of my friends is just as tired as I am.

Finally, the last piece of the heartless emblem appears on the far wall. It starts to shine brightly until the emblem becomes a doorway.

I look over at Matt and Yen who are ready to go. I bitterly remember what they told me a few minutes ago. I can't believe Raven would betray us like that! And all this time, I thought he's just gone missing, maybe even kidnapped! I trusted him.

Before long, everyone has already gone through the doorway. I must have zoned out. Sora sticks his head out. "Are you coming?"

"Yeah, I'm coming."


	42. Beginning of the End

**If you couldn't tell, this distort is almost finished. Every battle with Ansem will be its own chapter so look forward to it!**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Kingdom Hearts at all. Not at all.**

* * *

I find myself standing on sand. A warm sun shines down on me. I look around. An ocean, large trees, a waterfall? I'm back home! Everything looks exactly as I remember it! But no one but us is here…

"Is this… is this my island!" I hear Sora gasp. How is this here?

I wander over to our secret place, strangely drawn to it. But before I can get too close, a familiar voice rings throughout the area.

"_This world has been connected_" I turn around. The island with the Paopu tree quickly fades away.

"What was that?" Goofy yelps.

"_Tied to the darkness, soon to be completely eclipsed." _Another thing disappears, this time, one of the larger trees.

"_There is so very much to learn_" The cool blue water suddenly turns dark purple, like poison.

"_You understand so little_" the ground begins to shake violently. We all grab onto anything nearby to support ourselves.

"_A meaningless effort. One who knows nothing, can understand nothing_." Is this déjà vu or what?

Suddenly, dark cracks appear in the sky, on trees, everywhere. All that remains unscathed is the sky. On the now ruined beach stands Riku in his dark outfit. We run to him.

"Take a look at this tiny place." He says mockingly, staring off into the distance. But it's not Riku's voice. It's Ansem!

"To the heart seeking freedom, this island is a prison, surrounded by water." What does he know!

"And so this boy sought to escape from his prison. He sought a way to cross over into other worlds. And he opened his heart to darkness."

Ansem turned to face us, but as he did, a dark aura began to surround him. Riku's figure faded, only to be replaced by Ansem himself.

"Riku!" Sora shouts.

"Don't bother," Ansem mocks. "Your voice can no longer reach him where he is. And your brother will soon share his fate. Their hearts will belong again to darkness." My heart… will be lost in the darkness! I glance at my arm once more. I guess I don't have much time...

"All worlds begin in darkness," Ansem continues. "And all so end. The heart is no different. Darkness sprouts within it, it grows, consumes it! Such is its nature!" Ansem suddenly disappears and shows himself behind us. "In the end, every heart returns to the darkness whence it came!"

"You see, darkness is the heart's true essence!"

"That's not true!" I shout at him.

"The heart may be weak," Sora says, "and sometimes it may even give in,"

"But we've learned, that deep down, there's a light that never goes out!"

Ansem snarled in anger. A wind began to blow and he rose into the air. "So you have come this far, and still, you understand nothing! Every light must fade! Every heart return to darkness!"

A cloud of darkness appears behind Ansem. It quickly becomes a large, muscular heartless resembling a shadow on steroids. In any case, it's bad news!

Ansem's fists glow with a dark energy and he begins to laugh evilly. He swings his arms, creating disks of darkness coming right at us!

I instinctively block, sending a few of the disks right back at him. While he's fazed, I rush up to him, Sora and Matt following. I try to take a swing at Ansem, but at the last moment, he shouts "Come, Guardian!"

The heartless on his back is suddenly in front of him, blocking our evey attack! What is this thing! It eventually fades to his back once again, letting us attack Ansem. Yen and Donald fire spells at him while the ret of us attack directly.

Goofy starts to spin in the air, holding his shield out. He rams into Ansem multiple times, knocking him off balance.

I jump into that air, uppercutting Ansem then swinging down on his head. While I fall, the Guardian swings a fist infused with dark energy. It hits me in the stomach, sending me flying. That hurt a lot!

Ansem then starts to fire the disks again. I'm too stunned to block and I end up getting hit by quite a few.

I finally manage to stand up and down a hi-potion. It's on now!

I infuse my Keyblade with light, preparing for a powerful attack. I leap at Ansem, swinging wildly. He is under too much fire to escape. Finally, I wrap it up with some balls of light.

Ansem regains his composture, albeit looking a lot angrier. "You insolent little…!" The Guardian appears in front of Ansem again, but this time with an attack.

"Submit!" Ansem shouts angrily. The Guardian swipes at me, catching me in the side. But instead o fading back, it turns into a ball of darkness that flies right into me!

Seeing that Ansem is defenseless, Matt rushes him. However, he creates a cage o darkness around himself as Matt is about to hit him. Matt falls to the ground, dazed.

Suddenly, I feel a flare of pain in my chest. The Guardian rises from my chest, slugging me in the stomach before disappearing again.

Ansem start to float toward me, so I run, unable to do anything else. For some reason, I can't swing my Keyblade!

While I run, the Guardian attacks me three more times before going back to its master. There is no way I'm letting that happen again! I cast curaga, healing everybody, before jumping back into the fight.

Ansem started to laugh again and launched the dark disks once more. Knowing what to expect, I hold up my Keyblade to block. But as soon as I put it down, Ansem used the attack once more. I am unable to block it and I get hit by many of them.

I run up to Ansem, leaping into the air when I get close. I cut him multiple times and he falls back, unable to attack. I fall to the ground and launch multiple firagas at him.

Ansem floats toward Yen very quickly and roars, "Submit!" once more. The Guardian swings its fist, only this time, Yen knew what to expect. He rolls out of the way, completely dodging the attack.

He didn't stop, though. Ansem used his 'submit' attack twice more. The second time, he managed to hit Donald. Without his Guardian, Ansem floated toward me slowly. "Open your heart," he said a he neared, creating the dark cage around himself.

Every time he got near someone, he said and did the same thing until the Guardian returns to him. It punches Matt, sending him flying. Yen casts Curaga, healing us all completely.

Sora starts to glow with a yellow light. He begins to attack Ansem with fast, powerful strikes almost too fast to see. For the finaly, he holds out his Keyblade, streaks of light shooting out of it. All of them strike Ansem in the face.

Instead of attacking, Ansem simply flew into the largest tree on the island, disappearing into it. Almost immediately, the ground began to shake again.

The tree began to split in half, dark cracks lining its surface. With an earsplitting crack, it was cut in half. I can tell Ansem us in there. And we're not going to let him get away!

* * *

**Kaze:** **Guess what! I'm back!**

**Me: I thought you were tied up in the basement! *cough* I mean resting in Paris…**

**Kaze: you will pay for that one day…**


	43. Cold as ice

**Kaze: Ha! Now who's tied up?!**

**Me: *glares siletly***

**Kaze: and I get the spinning chair!**

**Me: *gasps***

**DISCLAIMER: Twilit does not own kingdom hearts. Even though he really wants to.**

* * *

We all run to the now ruined tree, Sora in the lead. He jumps in quite easily, but the moment Donald tries, a barrier appears out of nowhere. He bounces off quite painfully. We help Donald up, but now Sora is in the all alone! Is this déjà vu or what?

Almost immediately, a large pool of shadow appears near Sora. It grows larger and larger, soon forming into something I know all too well. The first strong heartless I ever faced; a darkside.

Sora summons his Keyblade and starts to fight it while the rest of us try to get in. It's no use, though. There is no way we're getting past that barrier.

"Well look what we have here," A voice taunts. I turn around quickly. Standing behind us is a man in a hooded cloak. An Organization member! Immediately, Matt, Yen, and I summon our Keyblades.

"Honestly you three. It's always 'attack first, questions later,' with you." How does this guy know anything about us?

"Fine then," Matt says. "I have a question for you! What do you want?"

"I'm simply turning your friend to darkness. He's far better off that way."

"Like we're going to let that happen!" Yen says angrily. Matt charges he man, but with a snap of his fingers, a blizzard suddenly runs through the area. I cover my eyes to block the snow from getting into my eyes. The cold is so intense, I am already shivering.

But as quickly as the blizzard started, it ended. I uncover my face and look around. Nothing has changed, the sand is still there, it's still hot, and… my friends are frozen!

Everyone but me and the man is trapped in a block of ice, unmoving. I turn to the man in anger. "What do you do to them!" I shout.

"Don't worry. They're still alive. They'll stay frozen long enough for me to deal with you." He slowly pulled back his hood, revealing long, light blond hair and large, green eyes.

"Now, let's get this over with." A cold breeze begins to blow as he holds his arm out. It intensifies as a block of ice manifests in his hand, quickly becoming a spiked blue shield.

"You can just skip this part if you unleash your darkness," he says.

"There's no way I'll do that!" I shout.

"So be it." He rushed at me with his shield. It slammed into me, forcing me back. It felt cold as ice.

Knowing he'll probably block my attacks if I hit from the front, I dash behind him and slice him across his back. However, at the last second, he manages to spin around and block my attack! How did he do that?

I try again, spinning around to his back. I try to launch a firaga. Again, the man spins around quickly and blocks it. He smirks and swings his shield upward. A giant icicle quickly rises from the ground where I stand. It was incredibly cold! I am not used to cold temperatures…

"Are you getting frustrated?" The man asks smugly. "You cannot hit something behind an invincible shield." Invincible shield? There's no way it's invincible! If I can destroy it somehow, this guy would be vulnerable.

I rush the man, acting like I'm going to attack his back again, but instead, I stab his shield with my Keyblade. For extra effect, I cloak it in fire.

As I thought, that final attack shattered his shield. It falls to the ground, now just small bits of melting ice. The man looks at me in total shock. "How… how did you…"

"What happened to 'invincible shield'?" I taunt as I attack. The man is pushed back by my attacks. He does almost nothing to stop me, being completely defenseless. I can tell how weak he is.

The moment I stop attacking, the man summons his shield again. "Why you little…!" he growls. He raises his free arm into the air. A giant sword made of ice suddenly appears in it. He holds it up effortlessly, even though it must weigh a ton!

The man swings his ice sword down on me, but I dodge at the last second. It buries itself in the sand, but the man pulls it out and swings it toward me again. This time it catches me and I am flung into the air.

Once again, he hits me down into the sand. This time, a giant shockwave followed the attack. It was powerful enough to shatter the blade.

I cast Curaga, enabling me to fight more. Then, I cast firaga in an attempt to melt his shield. I focus all of my remaining magic into it, so the shield melted instantly.

I attack once more, but without the aid of magic to enhance my attacks. Either way, I can tell this guy is getting weaker.

He manages to summon his shield again. A light blue aura begins to surround him, an extremely cold breeze starts to blow.

"Not your brightest idea!" He says angrily. He quickly raises his shield and a crowd of icicles rises from the ground all around me. Many of them strike me. Finally, a giant glacier rises right below me.

I am launched into the air by the force of the attack. That was way powerful!

This is really making me mad! Why can't these guys just leave me alone!

I am suddenly surrounded by a dark aura. A cold feeling spreads throughout my body, but I don't care. I'll make sure the Organization doesn't come after me again!

I leap at the man slicing wildly with the Keyblade. I immediately cut straight through his shield, leaving him defenseless.

I continue attacking at a wild pace, unable to stop. Even I can barely keep track of my movements. I think I might be teleporting around him.

Finally, the cold feeling strengthens as I fire a volley of dark orbs at the man. Looking terrified, he disappears into a Corridor of Darkness before my attack hits.

I gasp as I realize what I just did. I unleashed my darkness again! Why do I keep doing this! I look at my arm. I'm pretty much invisible now! I have to stop, or… I don't even want to think about it.

Suddenly, the sky turns pure black. Everything disappears, in fact. Matt, Yen, Donald, Goofy, and Sora are with me, though. Luckily, they're unfrozen.

Suddenly, Ansem's voice echoes from every direction.

* * *

**Kaze: ooh, a cliffhanger! I wonder what you'll do to me next.**

**Sora: what's going on in here?**

**Kaze: If you don't tell anyone, I'll let you date Kairi.**

**Sora: I didn't see anything!**


	44. Ansem's defeat

**Kaze: This story is almost over. All of the final battles with Ansem are in this chapter, so it's really long.**

**Me: Can you at least untie me for the end?**

**Kaze: You never untied me...**

* * *

"Behold the endless abyss!" Ansem says. "Within it lies the heart of all worlds:" I can see a door in the distance now. It is pristinely white and very large.

"Kingdom Hearts!" The word gives me a strange feeling. It's so familiar, but I've never heard it before.

"Look as hard as you are able. You will not find even the smallest glimmer of light. From those dark depths are all hearts born. Even yours."

Suddenly, a giant… thing appears in front of us! It resembles an enormous Flying Fortress. It is mostly red but has various blue areas. A series of organic looking vines cover an open dome with a heart-like object in the center. At the top are Ansem and his guardian. They are both much larger and the guardian looks terrifying. Ansem is no longer wearing a shirt and looks much more muscular. The entire thing looks like it's alive with a giant face at the front.

"Darkness conquers all worlds!" Ansem shouts. We suddenly fall with no ground beneath us. Matt, Goofy,, Donald and Yen each disappear into a portal. Sora and I fall straight down.

As I fall deeper into the abyss, I hear Riku's voice. "Giving up already? Come on! I thought you two were stronger than that!" No way I'll give up!

Sora seems to have heard Riku too. We fall further down, but with the determination to fight back.

I realize I'm no longer falling. A flurry of bright yellow sparkles float around me. Pixie dust! I can fly now!

Sora and I soar out of the fog and up to Ansem. He looks shocked to see us still here. We both summon our Keyblades, ready to fight. Ansem now holds a staff with a weapon that looks like Riku's sword on each end.

I fly toward him with Sora right behind me. Ansem starts to attack the moment I'm in range. He spins his staff quickly, blocking me from attacking. He stops soon, allowing us to get close.

Sora and I attack from both sides, slashing Ansem's now giant body with great fury. Before we can react, Ansem starts to attack. He goes in every direction, swinging his staff with great skill.

He manages to hit us frequently. There's nothing we can do to block it. I cast Curaga and continue fighting. Before we can get enough attacks in, he starts the same attack as last time. Luckily, we were able to get away this time.

"All shall be extinquished!" Ansem says. A bunch of light purple circles appear behind Ansem. A blue lazer fires from each of them. I fly through most lazers, but a few of them strike true.

The attack stops fairly quickly, but by the time I reach Ansem, he's already swinging his staff again. We can barely get close to him!

A black orb appears around Ansem. "Return to darkness!" He shouts. Three small, black creatures appear before him. Not wanting to see want they do, I destroy them quickly.

I fly back to Ansem where Sora has been continuing the fight. I can tell he's extremely wounded, so I cast Curaga on him.

We attack Ansem once more. He doesn't attack back, so I assume he's resting from that flurry of previous attacks. That doesn't last long, though. He once again starts spinning his staff around.

This time, I know how that combo works. I manage to block each strike from hitting Sora or me. Now that he's done it so many times, I can predict each strike. There's no way to stop the attack though. We need to slow him down.

For the first time, I notice the black ropes connecting Ansem to the oversized Guardian. Is the Guardian giving him extra speed and power? Maybe if I cut those strands…

I don't have time to try my plan though. Another round of lazers appear and blast me in the back. I cast Aeroaga to protect me as I go in to attack Ansem.

I fly around to his back and easily cut through each of the ropes. They disappear as soon as they're broken. When all of them are gone, Ansem slumps over, seemingly out of energy. That worked!

Sora and I rush in to attack. I am out of magic, so I can't use a special attack. Before long, more of the strands attach themselves to Ansem, reviving him. "You understand nothing!" Ansem roars.

Two sets of three lazers appear and start to blast us. I dodge until they disappear, but more take their place after a few seconds. Looks like we'll have to fight through them.

I attack Ansem once more, but the lazers prevent me from getting enough hit's in. Sora has the same problem. Not to mention he's also attacking us with his staff. We have to down many potions and cast multiple spells to stay alive.

After a few minutes of this, I can tell Ansem is getting weak. With all of our remaining magic, we join together for one attack. Sora and I attack with multiple beams of light aiming for Ansem's chest.

When they strike, Ansem freezes. Expecting another attack, Sora and I brace ourselves. The attack never comes, though.

Ansem dismisses his weapon and crosses his arms. He floats a few feet back into a hole in the Guardian. A heartless emblem appears over his body, shielding him from the world. He's probably regenerating health.

A portal appears near the fortess's center. I can tell we'll eventually find our friends if we go in there. Without a second thought, we fly in.

I find myself in total darkness. A neon blue heartless emblem is emblazoned on the floor. No one is in here but me, Sora, and a few dozen shadow heartless. We get ready to battle.

Each heartless is destroyed in one or two hits. It's strange how easy to defeat these heartless are compared to when they appeared on Destiny Islands.

When all of the heartless are gone, a strange, red orb appears a few feet above the ground. I can tell it's important to this fortress. Maybe if we destroy enough of these, Ansem will be vulnerable!

I jump into the air and attack the orb. In a few hits, it's destroyed. A burst of light erupts from it, then flame everywhere. The room starts to shake violently and a portal appears before us. We jump through, flying back outside.

Outside, we find Ansem has set up various defenses. Eight strange objects are lined up about halfway up the structure. Two are twice as large as the others. All of them are firing strange projectiles.

I dodge a few of them and head straight for one of the largest objects. Sora goes to the other. We destroy them fairly quickly, but the second we do, a burst of wind flings us back. Then, a couple lazers appear and shoot at us.

We fly back, this time, firing spells at the things. Before long, they're destroyed. At that point, a Portal of Darkness opens up above us and we fly through.

We find ourselves in an area exactly the same as the last one. With just as many heartless as well. Suddenly, Goofy's voice rings out. "Sora!" I hear Matt's voice too.

"Kaze!" I knew we'd find them! Together, we fight the heartless.

This time, the room is full of darkball heartless. They're really hard to fight in such a dark place. They blend into the darkness, only standing out against the heartless emblem on the floor.

Eventually, we manage to destroy them all. Like before, an orb appeared in the air. This time, Sora took care of it. It explodes in a bright fire, opening another portal. Before the room crumbles, we all fly outside.

Back outside, the giant head in the front of the fortress has come alive. We don't see a portal, so I guess defeating it should open another one.

With lightning flashing around us, we fly toward the monstrous head. I fly toward the left eye and slash downward. It coed out in pain and attempts to snap at me. Too bad it doesn't have a neck.

It closes its eyes for a moment and roars, creating a lightning storm around it. A bolt or two hits me, forcing me to fly back and heal myself. Fully healed, I fly back into battle.

The monster looks angry to see me again. Once again, it unleases a storm of lightning on us. Luckily, I manage to dodge all of the bolts.

Goofy wasnt so lucky. The force of the attack knocked him out. Sora pushes him out of harms way until he wakes up.

In a few minutes, Sora manages to land the final hit. Darkness begins to leak from the head as it begins to moan in pain. Finally, its jaw slacks and a portal appears in its mouth. That's just great.

I know we have to go through to find our friends, so without any complaint, we go through.

Inside are Donald and Yen, just as I thought. They're busy fighting a few Invisibles, the heartless with wicke swords. I can tell they've been having trouble, so we jump right in.

Each of us fight our own heartless since there are an equal number of heartless and friends. I fight sword to sword with one. For some reson, it only uses it's sword to attack and not its magic powers.

After a few minutes, the last Invisible is destroyed. Like before, an orb appears in the center. All of us capable of magic shoot a fireball at it and it is quickly destroyed. A portal appears and we all fly out before the room is destroyed.

We fly out of the mouth as it starts to leak more darkness. It starts to glow brightly as it bursts in a brilliant explosion. Nothing is left behind.

With the head destroyed, the shield around the center disappears. Now, the heart of the fortress is exposed. Destroying it should expose Ansem so we can finish this!

We fly up to the core. I thought it'd be easy to destroy, but it is protected by quite a few arrow shooting things. "Sora, you take care of the core!" I say. "We'll get rid of the lazers!" Sora nods and flies toward the core. The rest of us land and start attacking the lazer things.

I time my strikes to also block the lazer arrows. It doesn't take long for us to destroy them together anyway. Around the same time they're destroyed, Sora destroys the core.

It shakes violently, all the while releasing a bright light. Electricity starts to ark all around it right before it becomes engulfed in a white light. With one final explosion, the core is gone.

We float up to meet Ansem just as he emerges from the Guardian. He summons his staff, looking stronger than ever.

"All shall be extinguished!" He says. Two lazers appear in front of us, temporarily stopping our advance. I quickly fly under them, but another set appears in my path. It looks like they won't be stopping any time soon.

I fly through the lazers, but still heading for Ansem. As soon as I reach him, I swing down on his arm, causing him to flinch in pain. The others catch up and start attacking as well.

Suddenly, everything turns black. All I can see are Ansem and the Guardian. They both raise their arms in unison and an orb of darkness appears above Ansem's hands. It is launched behind us, quickly growing to large proportions.

"Witness, true power!" Ansem roars. All of a sudden, it becomes an immense black hole! It starts to pull us in immediately.

I try with all my might to fly away from it, but it's too strong. Just as I'm about to be pulled in, it disappears, much to my relief.

We start to attack Ansem again, before he can attack again. Strangely, he has not used his staff yet.

"Behold! Darkness!" Ansem shouts once more. The Guardian's mouth and arms are suddenly cloaked in darkness. It doesn't seem to be doing anything yet, so we keep attacking.

But then, I look at everyone. We're all cloaked in that same darkness! I can feel it sapping my magic. Before long, we won't be able to cast spells! It's a good thing we have ethers and potions.

Ansem starts to attack with his staff once more. Donald and Goofy are trapped in his attack! Luckily, it ends before they can be knocked out. At that same moment, the darkness around us dissipates.

"Welcome to Darkness!" Ansem says. More lazers appear again, stopping us from attacking him. I really hate those things.

We fight through them, dodging whenever we can. When the lazers are gone, he Ansem immediately starts his next attack. "Darkness!"

He create another black hole, but this time, I know what to expect. I fly behind Ansem's Guardian, getting as far away as I can. Sora and Yen follow my lead. "Weak hearted fools! Witness real power!"

We start to get sucked in, but since we're so far back, the black hole can't pull us in before dissipating. However, Goofy and Matt were pulled in and were knocked out. Donald cures them with a Curaga, but was hurt by the black hole exploding.

Sora and I continue the fight. I can tell Ansem is getting weak, but we're tired too. We can't keep up the fight much longer.

"Sora, are you ready to finish this?" I ask.

"You know it!" We slam our Keyblades together, turning them into one brilliant sword of light. With both of us holding onto it, we attack Ansem. We swing in every direction, faster than Ansem can keep up with. Finally, we pull back and stab him right in the chest.

Ansem screams in pain as lightning, fire, and light start to burst from his body. "Is this the end?" He cries. "It can't be!"

Explosions race across Ansem's creation. Ansem himself hangs limply as a bright light shines in his chest. At this point, he gets up and tries to resist, but the light envelops his fortress. We all fly away at top speed, not wanting to be caught in it.

In a giant ball of fire, Ansem's fortress explodes, leaving nothing behind. It's finally over…

* * *

**Me: I'm free! *Runs off into the night***

**Kairi: weirdo.**

**Kaze: O.O When did you get here?**


	45. Final Goodbye

**Kaze: Final chapter! Spoiler alert: Everyone dies!**

**Me: He's lying...**

**Kaze: kill joy...**

**Disclaimer: No one here owns Kingdom Hearts. **

* * *

Suddenly, Ansem appears near the door to Kingdom Hearts. He's back to normal now and appears to be in pain.

"It is futile." He says indifferently. "The Keyblade alone cannot seal the door to darkness." He spins around to face the door, reaching toward it. "Kingdom Hearts! Fill me with the Power of Darkness…"

The door slowly opens, spewing darkness from every opening. "Supreme darkness…" I'm not worried though.

"You're wrong." Sora says. "I know now,"

"Without a doubt," I continue.

"That Kingdom Hearts is Light!" We say together. Suddenly, the door opens wider and a pure light shines out, right into Ansem's face.

He groans in pain as the light shines. "But why… Kingdom Hearts…" The light envelops him in a blinding ball of light. His body begins to shine brightly. When it fades, Ansem is gone for good.

We land near the door and run to it. It's a lot larger than I thought it was. Three of us on each side attempt to push the door closed.

We push with all our might, but the door won't budge. Goofy looks inside and yelps.

"Stop staring and keep pushing! Donald shouts at him. When Goofy doesn't stop staring, the rest of us look in. Many pillars of a dark material are inside. in the distance is a bright light.

Inside are immense crowds of heartless. Way too many to fight. And they're all coming for the door!

"Hurry!" Matt shouts.

With new vigor, we keep pushing, but it's hopeless. This door is stuck!

"I can't…" Sora groans.

"Don't give up!" Riku's hand appears on the other side of the door. What is he doing there!

"Come on, guys! Together, we can do it!"

"Okay!" We push while Riku pulls from the other side. The door starts to close, but far too slowly.

I look inside once more only to see something worse than before. Multitudes of Darkside heartless are rising from the depths of darkness. We can't beat all of them!

"It's hopeless!" Donald cries.

Suddenly, the Darksides begin to fade away. Donald and Goofy look inside and gasp in amazement.

A figure suddenly hops onto the rocks. A golden light shines behind it. It appears to be a… mouse?

"Your Majesty!" Donald and Goofy shout. He's their King?

The King summons a golden Keyblade. It looks like Sora's but with reversed colors. He holds it high into the air. "Now, Sora and Kaze! Let's close this door for good!

"Close it! Quick!" Yen whispers.

Sora protests. "But…" what about Riku and the King? They'll be trapped. And I'll join them soon enough...

"Don't worry," The King assures. "There will always be a door to the light."

"You can trust King Mickey," Goofy says.

"Now! They're coming!" Riku shouts. The golden light fades, revealing Mickey's features. He's wearing white gloves, red pants, and shoes a lot like Sora's.

"Donald, Goofy, thank you."

We continue to push the door closed, but it goes a lot faster this time. As the door closes, Riku turns to Sora. "Take care of her." Sora nods and the door closes once and for all.

Sora and I point out Keyblades into the sky as a light surrounds them. I can tell Mickey is doing the same in the Realm of Darkness.

The door starts to glow blue and quickly disappears in a golden light. Now there is nothing left but us.

I turn around along with Sora. At the end of the path is Kairi! How did she get there!

We run to her, leaving our other friends behind.

By the time we reach her, the ground Sora and Kairi are standing on is sand. I'm still standing on rock.

All of a sudden, the ground stars to shake. I almost lose my balance. "Kairi, Sora!" I say. "I'll find Riku and bring him back!"

"I know you will!" Sora says.

"We'll be back! I promise!" The slabs of land we stand on slowly separate and we're soon far away from eachother.

Small, golden balls of light begin to rain over Sora and Kairi. The more balls that hit, the more of the Island is restored. Before long, all of the trees, sand and Ocean I remember has returned.

Sora and Kairi stand on the sand, but a blue fog slowly obscures them from view. Before long, they're both gone.

I turn to Matt and Yen. "I'll see you guys soon."

"We know you'll be back." Matt says.

"We'll be waiting." Yen adds.

I look at my arm. It slowly disappears with a golden light. My other arm and legs soon follow. Finally, I allow myself to fade away.

* * *

**Kaze: You made me go into the Realm of Darkness?! I hate you!**

**Me: You'll get out. Eventually.  
**

**Special Thanks to all of the people who have helped with this story. Especially Bladwielder05, Gin No Kaze, Robs the Universal Warrior, Hitomi No Azure, and Little Sweety Pea. Thanks to all of you!**


	46. Secret Ending

**Heh heh. I lied. Time for the secret ending!**

* * *

Two figures in black cloaks walked along a dark street. The two blended into the darkness so well, a passerby would barely notice them.

The figure on the left reached into his pocket and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper. He retread the note for the hundredth time, even though he knew the words by heart.

He knew the mission written was important, but couldn't remember why. All he could remember was that someone special told him to.

The two companions eventually reached the center of town. Two boys showed up at the other end of the square. One of them shouted and pointed at the two mysterious people.

There was a flash of light and all four of them held strange weapons. As they began to battle, someone shouted.

"Where's Kaze!"


End file.
